Eve of Fate
by tru7h nd 0rd3r
Summary: It has been 35 years after the HumanCovenant War, and now, the Master Chief must fight to protect humanity as well as uncover the truth behind the mysterious Eve of Fate and what his role in it may be. [UPDATE]Chapter 12 is now up.
1. Bitter Memories

_**Eve of Fate**_

Note:

_Well, I'm back. After... a year? Two years? It's been awhile..._

_First, I would like apologize, but people who have read Eve of Fate probably have heard them all - school, life, etc, etc, et-after-freaking-cetera. If anybody decided to read my profile, some may have read about me reediting/rewriting Eve of Fate. Well, it's true, and I have spent whatever time I can set aside to recreate a few chapters from the beginning to about Chapter 10, 11, or even further. I have decided to reedit after a whole myriad of things came up. First, I would like to do some explaining as to why I decided to embark on a massive reediting and rewriting phase. I read other fics in the Halo section, some really good ones that I won't mention here, but needless to say, they were simply amazing works of art. I envied the authors for being able to create such works of literary art, and I envied their stories for having such strong and complex plots, but it unnerved me a lot more. I began to look back at my own work and I felt it wasn't anything at all. Compared to everything else, it was _my_ product - a mediocre and haphazardly written 'story' using methods, styles, and elements that I still haven't changed upon since elementary school. Here I was - a high school student that enjoys and excels in English more than most of my other peers, reading and writing a story that I had made with ideas I should have grown out of. Reading the other fics made me feel worse about myself, and my ability to write - because part of me kept telling myself that I couldn't match them, and there wasn't anything I could do.  
_

_It sounds bad - I have an extremely low self-esteem, a product of growing up without 'proper' praise. I was practically lied to about how good my abilites really are all throughout my life, only to receive the brutal truth later and be forced to make a complete about-face to adjust to it. Worse, everybody I had ever met then proceeded to criticized me - my apparent lack of hard work, subpar marks, and, what my parents describe, a 'stupid, pointless, and useless' need to write fanfiction. The fact that my parents, who knows only a bit of English, kept telling me that I have no chance of writing, hurt the most. I will admit, I broke under all of that. I was made to think that I wasn't anything special or unique, and that the only thing I could do for anything was to work hard and receive nothing, all because I wasn't born to be smart or anything other than an average joe. This, as well as many other things prolonged my writing block. I now understand the type of stress that Bungie feels, when they can only do so much and receive so little back.  
_

_But I kept to my writing. It is my release. I looked over my fic, and began to think about what I really wanted to write - the scenes and words I never managed to put on the page. I then had the idea to edit my story - bring it up to an acceptable level of grammar and design. My edit turned into a rewriting. There was so much more I wanted to write, and I now had my chance. I wanted to make Eve of Fate something more - something better. Authors will have their grand works, I have my Eve of Fate._

_My rewriting isn't done yet - this is all I have done so far that I wish to release, amidst the stress and horrors of life. I present to you, not the greatest thing ever written, but the method and result of escape that I have pursued. I wanted to show the edited rewritings because I've delayed too long, and I want to get back into the writing process. Also, it's a bit selfish, but I do miss getting reviews...especially when life for me is taking an entirely negative turn, I need a bit of encouragement, even if it comes from a simple 'good job', 'great work', or something like that.  
_

_For those who have waited - thank you. For those who wish to read more, I can only hope that I have done my job rewriting parts of segments of my work._

And thus ends my preamble. In the ending notes, I will try to describe the motives for whatever edits and such I made. All those who have read my story before, I hope you enjoy this. For any new people reading my story now, I hope you like it, and I hope its pacing won't disrupt your enjoyment of it. So, here it is, my prologue, to Eve of Fate.

* * *

Prologue: Bitter Memories 

"_Wait, I'm picking up movement. Stay alert Spartans."_

"_What was that, stray plasma? It's gone now."_

"_It couldn't be – the area is clear. No Covenant forces within our immediate vicinity."_

_With that, the Spartans continued their advance towards the city._

"_Hold up – we've got a patrol, inbound – one Spectre and a half dozen enemy units, approaching fast."_

"_Take up defensive formations Spartans! Take them out."_

_Silenced shots broke through the air, while blood was spilled against the cold earth. The Covenant patrol, realizing they were under attack, returned fire. The blue and purple glows of plasma burned along the landscape, alerting nearby Covenant forces camped inside the city, and ruining any chance of a stealthy insertion. _

"_Grenade! Take cover Chief!"_

_A single plasma grenade was thrown, igniting seconds later. The resulting explosion lit the area up, and for a brief number of milliseconds, the silhouette of the Master Chief was seen. _

_It did not take long for the small task force of Spartans to finish the rest of the patrol. After the last Elite fell, Spartan-104, Fred, noticed something was wrong. _

"_Master Chief, respond."_

_No answer. The others tried to contact him, but they too had no luck. They checked the area he was in last, just before the plasma grenade went off. Curiously, there was no trace of a body, let alone any remains of a grenade. _

"_Where's the Chief?"_

_

* * *

_

"_The mission was a failure – according to satellite intel the entire city has been destroyed, along with the resistance fighters we were to have rescued. The Spartans were called back as soon as the Covenant was aware of a rescue attempt," an officer reported to the brass on the Security Council. "In addition to that, the infiltration team has lost one shortly before being ordered pull back, Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117, now declared MIA."_

"_MIA, Lieutenant?"_

"_Yes sir, missing in action. No remains or traces of the Spartan were recovered, or found. As a point of interest, satellite intel over the area at the time only found three Spartans, with Spartan-117 missing with no trace inside an area of nearly 200 miles."_

"_That settles it then, Halsey's freaks are no good to us anymore" a single voice spoke, belonging to a dangerous man. _

"_What are you suggesting, Colonel Ackerson?"_

_The Colonel stood up from his seat, inciting silence from the Security Council._

"_First, the Spartans are unable to make a covert insertion into the area, and now, it appears that one of them has deserted us in this time of crisis."_

"_What was that?" _

"_Gentlemen, it is clear – one Spartan has deserted us. What will prevent the others from doing so? And particularly following this incident, can we trust them enough on missions such as this?"_

_Silence filled the room, and not a soul dared to speak up after the Colonel._

_

* * *

_

_A young marine sat at a table and wolfed down his pack of rations. Moments later, another marine sat down next to him and whispered into his ear._

"_Hey, did you hear? The Chief chickened out on us."_

_Staring at his comrade with a skeptical look, he argued back. _

"_No way, he's a Spartan. They don't get scared."_

"_Oh, if you've been hearing what I've heard from some of the Helljumpers, he's run off!"_

"_It's not possible, it isn't…"_

_Within days, conversations similar to it were being said all throughout the military. Within weeks, the trust that the UNSC held in the Spartans, the last saving grace of humanity, was slowly disappearing._

_

* * *

_

_Colonel Ackerson strode into the room where the Security Council was holding its meeting. It was to discuss the need for alternative special weapons programs. _

His_ special weapons programs. _

_The propaganda worked like a charm. Officers within the UNSC were skeptical of the Spartans now, while the grunts in the Corps distrusted them further. The Spartans weren't needed anymore – all that was needed now was _him.

"_Colonel Ackerson, we have reconsidered your proposal," a General began. "How soon can we expect them on the field?"_

"_Not long General. The sooner we replace the Spartans, the soon we can end this war."_

_

* * *

_

"_We've lost contact with positions worldwide! The Covies are assaulting with everything they've got! MAC guns, generators, and defensive positions are gone sir!"_

"_What about Ackerson's SpecOps? What the hell are they doing?" an admiral demanded. _

"_They're all gone sir – wiped out. They were supposed to be defending the platforms. They have been either overrun or were taken out by the Covie cruisers. They're moving in coordination with each other. It's complete bedlam over our frontlines."_

_The admiral clenched his fist and gritted his teeth. _

_The Covenant were past their defenses too far, and they could now take down the remaining human forces a single strike. _

_The UNSC's luck had run out._

_

* * *

_

_A gold armoured Field Commander stood at the bridge of his vessel and observed the systematic bombing of the human's home world. The sight of the human's home world being destroyed beneath superheated plasma was breathtaking and every bit of it felt sweet. It wasn't in the sheer chaos alone, but rather, in the flawless tactical planning and thought that led to it._

_The entire en massed attack was his brainchild – for too long have the Covenant fought against the humans with miniscule force, applying it at select fronts in delicate, yet useless efforts. It resulted in nothing but severe losses over meaningless ground. _

_His tactic was different – he would require a single coordinated push against the human defenses. Their anti-ship weaponry had to be defeated at all costs, so to allow the Covenant vessels a proper advantage. The tactic was to smash the human defenses and keep attacking – leave nothing standing. _

_It was painfully simple, but the timing for it made it even better. As far as the commander was able to tell, the humans were falling apart politically. It was the almost laughable nature of the humans - how even in the face of extinction they would still operate according to personal desire and greed. This greed left the armies of humanity untrusting in each other – most particularly between the general forces and the near godlike Spartans. _

_Within mere hours, the defenses of mankind were smashed through by superior numbers. The last defensive emplacements and commanding positions fell not long ago, as did the last of humanity's stalwart defenders – most particularly, the Spartans, all of which had wreaked havoc on the Covenant for countless years. _

"_Commander – incoming message from the Hierarchs! It is being broadcasted openly!"_

_The commander curiously looked on as a hologram of the Prophets Hierarchs was displayed. _

"_All forces halt your attack at once! Spare the human home world! Commander, destroy any vessel that still fires on the planet! Halt your attack, immediately!"_

_With that, the attacks stopped. The commander followed his orders and destroyed all ships who continued their attack. Shortly after, another order was given. If the order to halt the attack was alarming by any means, the next order was of complete shock. _

_The Field Commander relayed the order to the rest of the soldiers under his command. He then proceeded to his Phantom to make landfall on Earth and oversee what needed to be done. Along the way, the Field Commander, one by the name of Nosla 'Yuteryi, shifted from varying degrees of anger to simple fuming. _

_The order was simple – secure the remaining humans and keep them contained inside a selected city._

_

* * *

_

_A small group of soldiers rushed under the cover of both darkness and the urban environment of the city. The City was in a fairly unknown region of Eastern Europe, and its name had already escaped the memories of the humans forced to live inside of it. It was once a fine metropolis, much like the rest that dotted the landscape of Earth in the 26th century. Currently, it was in complete disrepair, with the towers and structures falling apart from the brutal years of the war. Luckily for some, a complex tunnel system existed beneath the city. _

_Slipping between shadows and various cover, the team made its way to an apartment building and up several stories without disrupting the inhabitants. The lead soldier carried over his shoulder a body wrapped in a blanket, while the others carried small firearms still left from the war. _

_As soon as they reached a certain door, the lead knocked and spoke his entry code. The door opened, and he walked inside, only to be met with a confused group of other soldiers. _

"_What was this?" a soldier asked, keeping his voice down. "We lost six guys out there, and for what, Stacker? Tell me."_

_Stacker ignored him and carried the body into an empty room and laid it down on an already prepared bed. The others walked in and observed what Stacker was doing. _

"_We lost six guys for a body?" the same soldier asked. He reached out at the blanket covering the body and unfolded some of it. As the soft material rolled off, the soldier gasped at what he saw. _

"_We lost six good men so she could live, Hawkins" Stacker replied. _

_The soldier said nothing and looked on in shock. There was no denying it – the sleeping figure with short dark hair, angular beauty, and an already familiar visage only reinforced the thought. _

"_Cortana?"_

_

* * *

_

Cortana slowly woke up. She blinked a few times before yawning and slowly prying herself out of her bed. Setting her feet against the floor, a shiver went up Cortana's spine.

The floor wasn't furnished, and was primarily a piece of rough hardwood. On top of that, it was really cold.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Cortana looked around at her room.

The sun was just rising outside. The rays of light shined through the cracks in her window, illuminating portions of her small room. Her tiny room, along with most of the apartment she lived in was quite rundown and on the verge of ruin. The wallpaper was peeling off, and cracks in the roof and walls weren't the least bit comforting.

"Cathy, are you up yet?"

Cortana got out and quickly picked up a pair of cotton pants hanging on the side of her bed. When she slept, she mostly slept in a shirt and a pair of underwear. As she put her pants on, she replied back.

"I'm up Connor, just give me a second!"

As Cortana got out of her bed, she combed back her tousled hair with her hands. She looked at her mirror hanging on a wall and inspected her image. Anybody looking at her would see a healthy, young, and possibly attractive, twenty year old girl. Her smooth pale skin and rosy cheeks were flawless, and were complimented nicely by her short dark hair and crystalline blue eyes.

As she reached her slender hand for the rusting door knob, she sighed. Sometimes, it seemed as if her room was in an alternate world, and the world outside was some place completely different. In the end, it was.

* * *

It was thirty-five years after the end of the Human-Covenant War, and the Covenant had reigned supreme. 

It began shortly after Cortana and the Master Chief got back from Halo. The Covenant had figured out the location of Earth, and while Cortana coordinated forces from a secured command post, the Master Chief and his Spartans fought on the ground.

The initial misfortune occurred when the Master Chief and a few Spartans were sent to rescue a besieged gathering of resistance fighters in the United States from the advancing Covenant. The fighters were well aware of the tactics the Covenant used, and being unable to hold the area, their information, as well as their lives, was of great importance for the UNSC.

During the mission however, the Master Chief disappeared. There was no trace of him to be found. Prior to his disappearance, the Covenant were alerted to the Spartans presence, and they hastily began their assault against the resistance fighters. With the mission already taking a turn for the worst, command decided to pull the Spartans out, leaving the resistance fighters to perish against the Covenant.

Shortly after, more trouble came, this time from Colonel Ackerson, who had survived Cortana's fake order that sent him back to the frontlines. He began to argue for whatever reasons that the Master Chief had deserted the UNSC and that the Spartans being detected so early into the mission meant they were obsolete. He immediately started to spread propaganda against the Spartans, arguing further that his SpecOps programs were superior and would actually be able to win the war without 'Halsey's freaks.'

His propaganda did not help much either. Eventually, the opinion of trusting the Spartans were split and the decisions to accept Ackerson's SpecOps was made. However, right as they were being fielded, the Covenant struck with full force. Ackerson's SpecOps were too late, and the Spartans, already having been pulled back for reevaluation by the brass believing in Ackerson's lies, resulted in the complete destruction of the human defenses.

In mere hours, all elements of the UNSC had fallen, along with the Spartans and Ackerson's few SpecOps. With the defenses gone, the Covenant began bombing the planet freely and openly, without fear of getting shot down by ground based defenses.

However, the next part puzzled the surviving humans – the Covenant then stopped their onslaught, and landed troops to police the survivors into a remote city. Roughly ten thousand were allowed into the city, while the many unfortunate others were executed to control the population numbers.

Along with the executions, all AI's were ordered to be handed over for termination. Luckily, Cortana was smuggled into the city. While humanity was beaten, some did not give up. Those who did not formed various resistance groups to hopefully fight back.

About four years later, Cortana began to slip into a frustrated state of rampancy. In a desperate and nearly impossible attempt, a small team of resistance soldiers stole a new type of Covenant cloning technology that was able to create a physical body. They applied the technology to Cortana, and were able to produce for her a body, with her mind inside of it.

Ever since then, Cortana, now existing in a human form, inhabited an apartment within the ruined city, alongside a few people.

The first was a former soldier named Stacker. He was the older brother to the famous Sgt. Stacker, who fought on Halo alongside the Master Chief. Much like his brother, Stacker was a simple and effective soldier, but was calmer and less willing to fight due to his age. The last mission he had ever truly fought in was when he and a few others stole the cloning tech and saved Cortana. After that, he hung up his weapon and now rarely contacted the resistance with information.

Another inhabitant of the apartment was Connor, a roughly eighteen year old teenager. His light brown hair extended down to his ears and moderately over his dark blue eyes, which made him look like a good kid, especially to Cortana, but underneath, Connor was cold, harsh, and cynical, especially towards the resistance efforts. His past was a mystery that nobody understood, and even as he was loyal to Cortana, she too never knew of the teenager's past.

The last was another former soldier, one who went by the name of Rhineland. Of the three men, Cortana rarely saw him outside of his room and never even spoke to him. If he wasn't passed out, he was heavily intoxicated. Cortana did not know anything of his past, and she wasn't willing to ask around.

As Cortana stepped outside, she crossed over several worlds to one of great sadness and sorrow.

She was now in one thirty-five years into the future – thirty-five years after a Covenant victory.

* * *

End Note: This is my prologue. I tried to put more of a reflective view towards it, looking back at events that occured before. What I esentially did was combine the first two old chapters into a single one that began by looking into past tense, and then into present, and then the explanation. I felt that by doing this I could set up the situation and some of the characters, such as Cortana and 'Yuteryi better. It turned out to be a tad bit longer than I expected, but hey, nothing's perfect I suppose. 

The key changes I made was remove the character 'Jim.' Who was he? If you don't know, that's why I removed him. He was a fifteen year old kid who hung around with Cortana, much to the extent of a big sister/little brother sort of relationship. But it didn't turn out well and I found only so few places to use his character. So, he's cut.

I also removed Cortana's dream sequences. It was a good idea...three years ago. Now, it reeks of a mix of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and other cliched crap, and I'm glad I cut them out.

Well, this is the prologue, and I hope it turned out well.


	2. The Last Spartan

_**Eve of Fate**_

Note:

Of all the chapters, this one wasn't really edited, at all. It turned out the way I had wanted, and I'm pleased with it. I made a few changes, not much, because, well, there isn't anything I felt like changing with this one. It had the action I wanted, it set up the character of the Master Chief...it was alright, even as I read it now.

* * *

Chapter 1: The Last Spartan

The Master Chief was in pain. His eyes burned like hell, and his body itched in minuscule pain. But what hurt the most was his head - nausea and headaches rang through his head and echoed off his skull. All he remembered was leading his team through a thick area of foliage, when a blue glow came out of nowhere and landed next to him. Fred told him to take cover. But when he did, his vision went all white, and suddenly, everything fazed out. He could no longer feel the weight of his Battle Rifle, nor his other weapons.

He blinked several times before his vision recovered. Feeling slowly came back to his body, now making him realize he was lying face down on the ground. The Master Chief slowly got back to his feet. His body was no longer in pain, and his vision had recovered.

The Master Chief scanned the room, soon realizing that this wasn't really a room at all; everything here, minus the Spartan, was white. It seemed to extend far beyond his current position, perhaps for miles. He turned around and tried to look for an exit, but to no avail. There was no way out, nor did there seem to be a way he got in. He was imprisoned.

Suddenly, he heard a shuffle. Quickly turning to face it, the Spartan saw a Gold Elite. The alien warrior was standing there, its lower mandibles clicking at the sight of the human. In its hands wasn't the standard plasma rifle, but instead a deactivated energy sword. The energy sword was going to be a problem. Many times the Master Chief has seen countless Marines get cut down by the devastating melee weapon. Attempting to reach for a weapon, the Spartan swore as he soon realized he was unarmed.

The Elite activated its weapon, and the blade of blue plasma formed. Growling its war cry, the Elite charged, ready to cut the Spartan down. The Master Chief charged as well, coming close to the Elite's weapon before he suddenly went low and slid for the knees of the alien warrior. He didn't stop; his momentum kept him moving, knocking the Elite off its feet, and onto the ground. Getting back up, the Chief rammed his elbow into the back of the Elite. Although the Elite's shield blocked most of the attack, the hit stunned the alien further, allowing to Master Chief to reach for the energy sword. He snatched it from the Elite's grip, and with a single quick slash, the Spartan cut the alien down at the waist.

As the purple gore spilled onto the white floor, the Master Chief's motion tracker began to pick up more movements around him. Before he could even acknowledge it, five Special Operations Elites appeared in a circle around him. Their jet black armor stood out against the white background. Three of the Elites held energy swords, while the rest were equipped with their plasma rifles. Combined with some plasma grenades and religious fanaticism, these Elites were very well armed and could even be considered unstoppable.

The Master Chief didn't waste any time; he lashed out at an Elite who just barely activated its energy sword. The Spartan's sword sliced the warrior in half. Snatching the other energy sword with his left hand, the Spartan ran beneath the shots of plasma. He then made a dash for the next Elite, who had activated its energy sword.

Rolling beneath a swipe from the alien, the Master Chief swung his other energy sword at the Elite's unprotected side. His attention turned to the three remaining Elites. Two of them with plasma rifles fired upon the Master Chief, his shield taking the hits. The other Elite with the sword stayed back, waiting to strike when the time was critical.

The Spartan heaved one of his plasma swords up and threw it with full force at an Elite. The weapon hit the alien square in the chest, purple gore pouring out of the wound. The Master Chief didn't stop there; quickly picking up a plasma grenade from one of the dead Elites, he tossed it at another. The glowing blue explosive device stuck onto the alien's chest, and blew up after the warrior yelled in anger. This now left the Master Chief with the remaining Elite.

The Elite fired his plasma rifle at the approaching human soldier, only to find the shots being absorbed by the Spartan's shield. The Master Chief swung his weapon, and the Elite yelled its final cry before it was split into two halves.

Looking back at the bodies and purple gore, the Master Chief felt relief that it has ended. Switching off his energy sword and tossing it to the ground, the Spartan looked behind him, noticing that part of the 'room' was opening up. It was leading into an endless dark abyss, something the Master Chief did not want to enter. But somehow it was as if it was calling out to him, wanting him to enter. Looking around at the other corners of the white space, the Master Chief sighed and moved into the dark abyss. Was this all a Covenant trap? Was it a dream? He could not be sure, but somehow he knew this was where he needed to go. As he walked farther in his vision rapidly went white, and then everything was gone.

* * *

A simple resistance fighter named Ben Geller was in hell. His teammates who were just previously standing right next to him were blown to bloody bits when plasma from a Wraith hit square on their position. Also next to him was a soldier in his young teens who was hit directly in his face by a plasma bolt. All along the line of a hastily constructed concrete cover and gun emplacements, many soldiers of the human resistance were being mowed down by the Covenant. The commander said this mission "will be cake." Sadly, he was killed just a few moments ago, thus leaving the rest of the soldiers in utter chaos. The mission was supposed to liberate this street from Covenant occupation, but then a leak from somebody inside the resistance ended up with the Covenant fortifying that street with armor and plenty of soldiers

Ben fired his submachine gun at the advancing Covenant lines, but wasn't able to score a hit. His weapon's recoil and inaccuracy at this range made it useless to fire now. He winced as a plasma bolt hit close to him, the small energy fallout fazing the side of his face. He was now sure that this mission was completely FUBAR.

"Ah! Screw this!" Ben yelled as he got up and ran like hell away from the frontlines.

As he ran, plasma zipped by his body, narrowly scraping his makeshift combat armor. His Battle Rifle shook on his back a bit as he ran. He had been meaning to get rid of the rifle and get something else, such as a shotgun or even another SMG, but he wasn't able to find any others.

The long concrete line was hastily constructed when they got onto the street; just as they planned. It was meant to protect the soldiers, but now a Wraith showed up and was now bombing the crap out of them. Its long arcing flights of plasma allowed them to easily hit the positions. Ben ran past debris and concrete, zigzagging to avoid being targeted. The other soldiers were still in the fight; Ben wasn't.

Suddenly, something blew up to the left of Ben; plasma from the tank. He was thrown in the opposite direction and then landed face down next to a building. Ben tried to move, but he stopped as pain shot up his leg. His leg must be broken. He tried again, and was able to flip himself over onto his back. He then saw an Elite standing in front of him. Naturally, the Elite was pretty pissed off; purple blood was bleeding from his wounds, its left arm was bent at a rather awkward angle, and his angry eyes were enough to make any soldier surrender. Ben raised his SMG, which he still held onto when he was thrown into the air.

His SMG clicked empty. _  
_

That sound echoed throughout Ben's mind and head. His SMG was empty, and the Elite was ready to fire. Ben closed his eyes, and hope he would die a quick and painless death. However, something didn't want him to die.

Ben heard several shots and saw the Elite's shield flicker and die. Then a trio of rounds passed through its head, which exploded in a cloud of purple blood. He looked behind him, and was he saw was unbelievable. It was a Spartan.

The Spartan fired his Battle Rifle at the advancing Covenant lines, all of his shots scoring hits on Grunts and Jackals. As he fired, the other soldiers were running away; their lines were broken. Several Grunts fell to the Spartan's fire, before his weapon was empty. Instead of reloading, the Spartan got down and picked up Ben as if the soldier did not weigh anything, and then retreated into a building.

Inside the room was unfurnished. There were no windows, and there was a small corner close to the door. The Spartan set Ben down and reloaded Ben's SMG with frighteningly fast and fluid speed.

"Protect the entrance. Kill any Covenant who walks through the door."

All Ben was able to do was stare in disbelief as the Spartan took his Battle Rifle ammunition and ran to the far door at the other side of the room. If Ben's memory served him right, the door lead to a set of stairs that allowed access to an enclosed balcony. With the Spartan's scoped Battle Rifle, that spot was excellent for sniping. Unfortunately, nobody in the resistance was able to figure that out.

Suddenly, Ben heard some high pitched yelling and barking. Two Grunts walked into the room. He fired his SMG, the 5mm caseless shells hitting the two targets, completely overwhelming them. The wall was now washed with blue blood. Ben heard more barking and shrieking. They were still coming.

* * *

The Master Chief got up the stairs and onto the balcony. Slapping in a fresh magazine for his Battle Rifle and putting the extra ammunition he got from the wounded soldier into the pouches on his belt, he looked through his scope at the Covenant positions. Stationary guns and shields were places all along the concrete line. They were immune to fire from street level, but from up here, they were like sitting ducks. He fired several bursts, hitting the Grunts on the turrets and an Elite hiding behind a shield.

Moving behind a wall, the Master Chief reloaded. He had eight magazines left, plus a plasma pistol, a plasma grenade and two fragmentation grenades. Popping out from his cover, he continued raining bullets down on the Covenant positions. As he did, his mind wondered what was going on. It wasn't the battle, but it was how both sides fought. The Covenant seemed lazier. When he picked up his plasma pistol, the patrolling Grunts did not seem to notice one of their comrades was missing. The Elites practically stood in plain sight, as if not imagining they'd be fired upon from a higher elevation. Was the war starting to get to them? Hopefully it was, since they were now far easier targets. As for the marines, he wasn't too sure either.

The marines, if he could even call them that, were ill-equipped. All of them had improvised combat armor, and most carried weapons that had possibly never been cared for; his Battle Rifle he picked off of a dead soldier was scarred and dented, and the scope's zero was off. Above all, the soldiers were fighting a battle against vehicles, and they did not even have any vehicles themselves. They didn't even have a rocket launcher, let alone any explosive ordinance.

He moved back into cover as a Covenant Spectre moved down the street, its turret firing on the Spartan's hiding spot. The concrete cover melted as the plasma bolts struck. The Chief readied his plasma grenade. He popped out of cover and threw the glowing blue ball at the exposed side seat. It landed and stuck to an unlucky Grunt. The explosion also killed diver, leaving the Shadow immobilized and the Elite at the gunner position confused. The Master Chief fired at the gunner, killing the Elite and leaving the Shadow as a roadblock. Unless it was moved, which was difficult at this point, the Wraith mortar tanks wouldn't be able to get through. Unfortunately, the tank was able to fire on the balcony, which was what it did.

The Master Chief got out of there. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, the upper floor along with the balcony was blown away by the plasma. Dust fell all over the Spartan's armor, and debris rolled around. Walking through the door, the Master Chief noticed that there were now about ten soldiers there. Three of them, including the wounded soldier the Master Chief picked up earlier, were guarding the door. Everybody else was either wounded or tending to the wounded.

"Who's in charge here?"

A soldier looked back at him and saluted.

"From the looks of it, I am. Fredrick Elias."

"Do you have any form of communications, like a radio?" The Master Chief asked. "We need to call for reinforcements, or evac, now."

Elias looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his head. He wasn't wearing a helmet, thus fully revealing his long dark oily hair. His hair was longer than the regulations permitted. His uniform had no rank or insignia.

"Uh, sir, do you know what day it is?"

The Master Chief looked at the soldier, wondering why he would ask the question. He thought about it, and managed to pick up the year, 2553. He was about to respond when a wounded soldier suddenly spoke out.

"Its thirty-five years since you ran away you bastard!"

Ran away? Thirty five years? The words echoed through his head. He had just woken up an hour ago, in a completely different place then where he last was, and now it was thirty-five years later? Elias whispered something back at the wounded soldier and then resumed talking.

"Sorry about that man, but a lot has happened since your…disappearance. I'd want to tell you, but we're holed up in here. Geller and Haughton are providing some of the defense, but it's not enough. We're gonna have to fight our way out."

"Are you THAT stupid! We've got too many damn wounded to move!" another soldier yelled back.

"Well what other choice to we have! If you have a better suggestion, I'd like to hear it!" Elias argued back.

Before the Master Chief could say anything, everybody in the room broke out into argument. From the wounded to the defending soldiers, everybody was yelling about something. The Chief then realized that he needed to take action.

"Quiet down soldiers! The more noise you make, the easier the Covenant will hear us."

"Well, you know what? Kiss my normal, unarmored ass!" the same wounded soldier responded back. "If it weren't for you running away, I would have STILL had a family to return to, instead of being here with half my arm burnt off!"

"Shut up! It wasn't his fault!" Elias yelled.

"Oh, so you LIKE the freak now, do you! Bet he likes you back!"

Everybody went back into argument. The Spartan couldn't believe this. Soldiers weren't supposed to argue with each other. Perhaps the war was having far reaching consequences on the soldiers. Suddenly, something came through the door: a single Grunt. Everybody was too busy arguing to notice it. Fortunately, the Master Chief wasn't. He raised his weapon and shot the Grunt in the head, blue blood washing against the floor. Everybody went silent.

"Listen. We need to get out of here. Do we have any methods of transporting the wounded?"

In the corner, a medic spoke up.

"Yes sir. We have enough stretchers for the critically wounded. The others aren't as wounded, so they can be carried by hand."

Inside his helmet, the Master Chief sighed. This might just work.

"The resistance must have some sort of base nearby, right?"

Elias nodded.

"Not really a base, but an entrance into a series of tunnels that run beneath the city. The Covies don't care about them, so we use them to get from place to place. There's one practically next door, but the Covies have fortified the street. We ain't gonna be able to get to it with them all around."

The Master Chief thought about that. Then an answer came.

"This is how it is going to work. Medics: get the stretchers and load the critically wounded onto them. Anybody else who isn't wounded, help carry them. Those still able to hold a gun, you'll cover them. Elias, where is the entrance?"

Elias moved to the door, and pointed at another door just across the street.

"Inside there is a basement with a trap door that leads to another basement. In that basement is the entrance. However, on both sides of the street are lots of Covie positions. They ain't budgin', so we ain't moving."

"This is where I come in," the Master Chief said. "I'll draw them off the street and away from here. Once I'm done, you will be able to get across."

Elias stared into the Spartan's reflective visor.

"Hey, that crazy! It's practically suicide!"

"Heh, he'll die, right?" a soldier said.

"Just do it" the Spartan responded.

Before the Master Chief walked out, he looked back at Elias.

"Do you know what happened to the other Spartans?"

Elias face looked grave as he replied.

"They were killed sir, all of them. They were defending the last UNSC positions. I'm sorry man."

The Master Chief said nothing as he loaded his Battle Rifle and checked his Plasma Pistol; 52 percent charge. Good enough. Walking close to the door, he asked anybody for their sidearm. Luckily, a soldier had his pistol. The Master Chief connected a wire to the weapon and using the sidearm, peered outside. He couldn't help but think about his comrades. They had narrowly made it off of Reach and back to Earth. Now, they were all dead. Joshua, Kelly… They were all gone.

The Spartan shrugged and quietly continued his work. The Covenant had the street pinned down; two turrets at each corner, along with a lot of Grunts and a couple of Jackals. He watched their movements carefully. He concluded they were tired, thus making them not as much combat effective. He returned the sidearm and prepared a grenade.

"As soon as the Covenant presence is clear from this street, make a break for it. Don't forget to watch and make sure they're gone."

The soldiers nodded. Many were nervous, but confident enough to trust him. What other choice did they have?

Holding a frag grenade in each hand, the Spartan walked out and threw one to one end and the other to the opposite, then move back in. A few seconds later, two explosions came, along with several screams. The Master Chief popped back out with his Battle Rifle. He quickly gunned down two Grunts and a Jackal. Turning to the other end, he fired at the Jackals who were still alive. While was out there, he spotted a Spectre at one end, and the Wraith at the other. Due to the wreckage of the Spectre he destroyed earlier, the Wraith couldn't move, but was still able to fire clearly.

He went farther out into the middle of the street. He was lucky the Covenant did not place any snipers at high vantage points. He dashed for the position of the Spectre, firing several bursts from his Battle Rifle. When he got up to its position, he fired at the Spectre, the bullets bouncing harmlessly off its armored body. The Spartan quickly got back behind cover when plasma bolts were being fired. That caught the attention of the Wraith's pilot, who then decided to fire. The ball of plasma sailed through the air, finally landing and hitting the Spectre, clearing that end of the street of opposition.

While that was happening, the Master Chief ran back down to the other end, firing at the Grunts who had just appeared. His aim was true; the Grunts fell to his fire and another from the butt of his rifle. Picking up their plasma grenades he quickly armed and threw them at the Wraith, each on sticking and exploding near the pilot's cockpit.

Suddenly, he heard humming down at the other end; two Ghosts had just appeared. They fired at him and the Master Chief's shield flickered. Picking up another grenade, he threw it at one Ghost, smiling as it stuck onto the pilot. The explosion destroyed the Ghost, and sent the other into a wall. Quickly gunning down the pilot, the Spartan fired back at the now growing crowd of Grunts and Elites. They were running down the street, firing their plasma weapons at the Spartan.

The Master Chief back away and ran for the damaged Wraith. The Elite who was piloting it was crawling out of the cockpit. The Master Chief fired on him and then got into the Wraith. He wasn't familiar with the controls, but they looked easy enough to use. He backed away from the street corner and lowered the mortar. The targeting now indicated that the ball of plasma will hit somewhere near the corner. The Covenant poured out, slightly confused on where the human had disappeared off to. By the time they noticed the Wraith, it was too late. The tank had fired, and the whole ground was covered by purple gore.

Suddenly the Master Chief noticed a Phantom dropship fly overhead, firing its weapons at the tank. Warning symbols popped up on the tanks tactical display; it was time to get out of there. The Master Chief got out, and reloaded his Battle Rifle. In the distance, he heard gunfire. The soldiers must be moving now. He went down to the corner and watched. The soldiers had made it. They were now inside the other building, just steps away from safety. He'll be heading there as soon as he is finished.

Down at one end, he noticed the Phantom lift off the ground and fly away. Suddenly jumping into his view was a Brute. The huge, apelike creature growled its war cry as it caught sight of the human. Four others showed up, each of them jumping onto the damaged Wraith. The Spartan backed away. The Brutes jumped off the vehicle and aimed their weapons at the human. Some of them pulled out the grenades they carried on their belts. Raising his weapon, the Master Chief aimed for the lead Brute.

The war might have already been won and humanity defeated, but the Master Chief was still here, and he sure isn't going to give in without a fight.

* * *


	3. Unhappy Reunions

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 2: Unhappy Reunions 

The street level was filled with portable medical units, as well as a large number of corpses. Lower ranked Covenant units helped moved the bodies out of the way or tallied the number of causalities. The recent battle on the street left many human resistance fighters and Covenant soldiers dead.

Overhead, a Phantom slowly drifted to the ground and hovered roughly five meters above it. The craft's miniature gravity lift charged and a single passenger exited. All eyes turned to the newcomer, a gold armoured Elite – a Field Commander.

Although the humans did not see any differentiation between him and other Elites of the same rank, the entire Covenant did. This Field Commander was their savior – a heroic tactician who brought the Covenant their victory. His rank was nothing compared to how much he was renowned.

His name was one to be remembered. His name was Nosla 'Yuteryi.

Looking around, he saw more of the same - dead humans, and the occasional dead Covenant. 'Yuteryi had been on the world long enough to see it all, and he commanded the forces that occupied the planet.

The idea of occupation was strange to him. He came here to destroy the enemy, but here he was, a brilliant Field Commander, policing and watching the humans. The Prophets said it was to be done because Forerunner artifacts have been found on the planet, and that the war needed to be paused for a moment while they claimed them. 'Yuteryi did not mind, and his loyalty prevented him from questioning the Prophets, but it seemed strange to him that it had to be done.

As he walked along and surveyed the remains of the past battle, the underlings cowered in his presence, while those of the same race, the Sangheili, knelt in honour. Ignoring them, 'Yuteryi headed straight for another Elite that was writing the report regarding the number of casualties for both sides.

If 'Yuteryi's renown was at the top of the spectrum, then this one was at the lowest possible. His armour was green, and had noncombatant civilian markings. He was also nearly a foot and a half shorter than 'Yuteryi.

He was an 'Abnormal,' an Elite born with disabilities that made them useless for military service. All of them were docile, weak, and inferior. Most were hunted for sport, but only recently some were assigned the menial jobs of counting corpses or cleaning up after battles. Regardless, the mistreatment by the 'superior' Elites still continued unchecked.

The Abnormal paled when he noticed the larger 'Yuteryi approaching him.

"What have you recovered?" 'Yuteryi demanded.

The Abnormal hesitated for a moment.

"Your Excellency, w-we have counted s-s-sixty-two human casualties, a-a-and…"

His stuttering was beginning to annoy the Field Commander. Plucking the report from the Abnormal's hands, 'Yuteryi read the number himself. His eyes narrowed and his hands crushed the report.

"How is it possible we have suffered nearly twice the number of casualties?" he asked, his voice low to hold back his anger.

'Yuteryi shoved the report back into the Abnormal's hands. The force of it pushed him to the ground and made him whimper.

'Yuteryi then noted a section of writing on the Abnormal's chest plate.

"Is your name Sonan 'Jeryima?" he asked. The Abnormal looked up and nodded happily that somebody would be able to use his name.

'Yuteryi then bared his teeth.

"You filthy Abnormals are not even worthy of a name. I would kill you now, but I need that report. Go, and recount the bodies!"

Kicking him with one of his hoofs, the Abnormal scurried away. 'Yuteryi was hoping that the stupid Abnormal was wrong – never before had the humans been able to best the Covenant in open combat. It was worrying, but he was confident it meant very little.

"Your Excellency."

Turning around, 'Yuteryi saw a Grunt, kneeling before him.

"What is it?"

"We have recovered the mission recorders from the Jiralhanae strike force. It may hold an answer for what may have happened here."

Mission recorders were small video capturing devices that were worn by some of the special operations units. They provided excellent footage regarding the actions of the mission. Whatever the Brutes have seen would help to understand why the Covenant suffered so many losses.

"Show me."

The Grunt obeyed and waddled along with 'Yuteryi following. He came upon a small medical bay hastily assembled in the middle of the human street. Walking inside, he was met with the sight of several dead Brutes. The stench was almost unbearable, but 'Yuteryi was strong enough to withstand it.

Also in the medical bay were several minor Elites, who were going over the footage from the mission recorders. As soon as they caught sight of 'Yuteryi's gold armour, they dropped what they were doing and knelt in honour.

"Stand up warriors – what have you recovered?"

Resuming their work, an Elite keyed a holographic display and an image was then created. 'Yuteryi then froze when he saw what the mission recorder contained.

It looked like a human, but this human was possibly unlike anything he had ever seen. It was covered head to toe in a type of armoured suit, with a reflecting gold visor hiding his face. The human fired his weapon and quickly took down one of the Brutes. He rolled and dodged beneath all the Brute's attempts to fire at him. When a shot did hit him, all it did was create a yellow spark covering the human's armour – it some type of shielding that surrounded the human.

Suddenly, 'Yuteryi recognized the armour. He froze, and he realized what it meant.

"Thank you. I shall relay this to the Prophets. Give our fallen brothers a proper burial" he said before leaving.

The human was a 'Spartan,' the human super warriors that had wreaked havoc on the Covenant for so long. That human was one of them. It was why the Covenant had lost so many on this day. As 'Yuteryi walked along, the Abnormal approached him again.

"E-excuse me, your Excellency? I have finished counting the bodies, and they still remain as the original numbe-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Gold Elite struck him across the face with so much force it knocked the Abnormal into unconsciousness. 'Yuteryi had no use for his report now. He needed to redouble the Covenant's efforts to hunt down this human.

At the same time, he needed to send a request to be stationed in the city, so he would be closer to where his forces would be. He would be better suited on the ground rather than waiting and commanding blindly from a ship in orbit, as well as ask for more soldiers.

* * *

The Master Chief crouched behind a large garbage container in an alleyway and waited until the noise died down. It didn't take long for the Covenant to go crazy scouring the streets for him. They had regular patrols roaming about now, and they outnumbered and outgunned him by a hell of a lot more. 

He had only a few magazines left, and his plasma pistol was already used up. It would probably be better if he'd avoid contact for the moment. He needed a safe place to rearm and perhaps regroup. The street closest to a tunnel entrance that Elias mentioned about was already locked down, so he needed to find another.

Leaning out to check the rest of the alleyway, the Spartan decided to move. Getting up, he continued to move through the alley.

Suddenly, he heard a cry. It was close, and it sounded like it belonged to a woman. There were also the sounds of Elites as well. The Master Chief homed in on the noise, and as he got closer, it got louder.

Pressing his back to a corner, he peered out and saw exactly was he heard – a small group of Blue Elites, three, harassing a young woman. The apparent leader of the Elites screamed and yelled at her while pinning her against the ground, while the other two pointed their plasma rifles at her. Did they think she was part of the resistance? Was that why they were so eager to explode at her?

Popping out, the Master Chief fired a set of bursts into the head of an Elite, dropping the alien warrior instantly. The Master Chief continued on another on another Elite before he expended his magazine, only wearing down it's shield slightly. Hiding back behind the corner, the Spartan reloaded and waited for the other two Elite's response.

Sure enough, they ignored the girl and turned their attention to him. The two blindly rushed in, right where the Spartan was anticipating them to be. He struck with the butt of his rifle, catching the first Elite in the head and sending him back a few meters. The Master Chief then opened fire on the next Elite, dropping the alien warrior in a quick series of bursts. The other Elite only then recovered and got back to its feet. Picking up the plasma rifle of the fallen Elite, the Master Chief finished off the remaining the warrior.

He looked over and saw the same girl still there. She slowly tried to get up off the ground. The Master Chief walked towards her.

"Ma'am, are you alright-"

The Master Chief then froze as she turned to face him, revealing her slender and perfect face. Her short dark hair evenly framed her face and extended down to her shoulders. Her eyes were a beautiful, yet cold and icy blue. She looked almost like a younger Dr. Halsey, but she looked even closer to someone else he knew.

"John?"

Her voice echoed in his head, and instantly, the Spartan recognized every part of her.

"Cortana? Is it you?"

For a moment, the Master Chief could do nothing but stare into her eyes. It was as unsettling as when he had first met Cortana, and was unsure of how to see her as either civilian or military equipment.

Was it really her? Was she human now?

A sudden series of noises disrupted the Master Chief and threw him back into the situation. He lifted Cortana up as though she weighed nothing, and stood her on her two feet. Her slender hands brushed the dirt and dust off her pants and coat. Even as she was covered in it, she still looked stunning.

"We have to get out of Chief. I have a place we can head to for safety. Follow me, hurry!" she said, her voice suddenly authoritative and tense.

The Master Chief was hesitant at first, but he decided to follow; Cortana gave good advice in the past and she could do it again. As they moved, he occasionally looked back to make sure they weren't being followed. After running for nearly a full half hour, they took a short break while hiding behind cover.

"What's going on?" he asked, hoping to get an answer.

"A lot has happened, Chief," Cortana replied, clutching her chest while coughing. "A lot has changed in the last thirty-five years."

"It's really been that long?" he solemnly said. What the soldiers said to him was true then.

"I'll explain it when we get back to my apartment. It isn't far from here, and by the time we get there, we'll be able to slip in without anybody noticing."

As she broke out and continued to run, the Master Chief could not help but look across her slender figure. He couldn't imagine Cortana actually running, since he was only to seeing her as a hologram. Again, the fact that she was now human crept back into his mind.

Most of him wasn't able to believe any of this.

They started to run from the alleyways and then to the main lobby of Cortana's apartment building. Inside, it was just as Cortana planned. Not a soul stirred inside. The lobby was just as run down as most of the other buildings in the area; cracking tile floor, giant gaping holes in the wall, and often potholes all over the floors. The lights that hung and shined lazily from the ceiling looked as if they were about to fall down. In this world, everything had dust, holes, and rust. Somehow, the Master Chief felt uneasy here; the overall shabbiness of the building often made it seem like an urban battleground. Keeping his weapon close, he stayed alert, watching if any Covenant would suddenly pop out of nowhere.

Reaching for the stairs, the two began their long trek up several stories. The Master Chief was cautious as he walked up, carefully checking his footwork. Cortana looked back and giggled as she watched him tread carefully along.

"What's so funny?" the Spartan asked.

"It reminds me of that time we had to get past the minefield during that test," she said, smiling. "You look the exact same as when you were running through it."

"I was being careful – you were only ninety-three percent accurate."

"We made it out of that one just fine didn't we?"

"Can the floor support my weight?" the Master Chief asked, getting away from her playful tête-à-tête.

"Don't worry, it'll hold" she replied.

As they continued walking, the Master Chief felt queasy inside. Part of him wanted to talk to her more. Cortana was more 'animated' now, as well as her responses. She wasn't just a disembodied voice that spoke inside his helmet with tactical information and the occasional cheeky comment, but an actual person now, with apparent and actual feelings and character.

As they continued up the stairs and walked down a hallway, Cortana then stopped. The Master Chief was about to ask her when he realized what it was.

"Somebody's coming," she whispered. "There! Get in the closet."

There was a closet just next to them, and the Master Chief quickly got inside. It was small, but enough to hide a fully suited Spartan.

It was dark inside, but the Spartan's enhanced vision could see clearly the details of the splintering door and the small dusty world now around him. Outside, he heard speaking. Listening closely to the conversation outside, he picked up what Cortana was saying.

"I said no, Jericho."

"What fun is that, Cathy? You'd enjoy it there. You'd be there with me and a few of my friends – we're the best place in town" a male voice with a sly Australian sounding accent replied. Listening to it only briefly, the Master Chief did not like, or trust the person.

It then occurred to the Spartan that this person recognized Cortana was an actual person. He identified her by an actual name, and saw her as such. What if he was to know who Cortana really was? How she wasn't just another girl walking down a hallway, but once a highly advanced AI that was as much a potent tool or weapon against the Covenant?

"Listen, I have things to do, so could you please stop trying to get me to join you and your 'caste' of buddies?"

The man sighed, finally giving up.

"Fine, it's your loss, but I'll do it for you luv. Take care."

The Master Chief waited until the area was clear before he left the closet.

"Boyfriend?" he asked, interested to know who it, or how the person knew Cortana.

"Not even close," Cortana replied, his face in disgust. "His name is Jericho, some guy who runs some bar in the city. I'm not even sure why he's doing that, especially when there's really nobody on the streets except the Covenant. He's been hitting on me for the past month or so."

"Well, it isn't farther now" Cortana said, changing the topic. She led the Master Chief down the hall before they stopped at a door.

Taking out her keys, Cortana opened the door the two stepped in. Inside the small space, the Master Chief felt slightly more relaxed. Even as it was mostly run down, it was comfortable and cozy. The central living room had four doors, two to both sides, and a large window in the center that looked out into the rest of the city.

As he looked around, he caught sight of another inhabitant inside the room. He was a tall teenager with medium length brown hair. When he heard them enter, he immediately greeted Cortana.

"Cathy! Thank God you're-"

He stopped mid sentence when he saw the Spartan. At that moment, his eyes gazed at the Master Chief in confusion, but slowly anger.

"Cathy?"

Another individual exited from one of the doors. He was older than the other inhabitant, with his chestnut coloured hair already graying over, but slightly shorter. Somehow, he reminded the Master Chief of somebody as well. Carefully recalling his memories, the Master Chief was able to remember who – a Sergeant, like Johnson, who served alongside him on Halo. He remembered his name – Stacker.

"My God," he said, shocked. "A Spartan?"

"Guys, this is the Master Chief" Cortana explained, her voice slightly wavering. She appeared unsure of how to introduce him.

"The same Chief who ran away?" the teenager replied, his voice filled with harsh sarcasm. "Back after how many years, and for what?"

"Connor, please be nice to him. He saved my life out there" Cortana said timidly.

The teenager, 'Connor,' scoffed.

"He saved your life, but how many have died because of him?"

Before anybody was able to respond, Connor went into his room and slammed the splintering door behind him, like he was venting his anger.

"It might be better if I was to leave" the Master Chief said, preparing to open the door behind him and exit. He stopped when Cortana placed her hand on his shoulder.

"No, the Covenant will be looking for you. It's probably best if you stay here for a while."

"Listen to her Chief," the older man said. "Besides, if you've actually been MIA for more than thirty years, you'll need to know some stuff, and you'll need to tell us some as well."

The Master Chief agreed with the two of them. Setting his Battle Rifle down in the corner, he walked farther into the living room.

"Name's Stacker" the older man introduced.

"The name sounds familiar," the Master Chief remarked, remembering his analysis. "Are you related to a Sergeant Stacker?"

He nodded.

"He was my younger brother," Stacker replied sadly. "He was on the Pillar of Autumn, and had been to that thing, Halo, and died there."

"I'm sorry for loss" the Master Chief responded in condolence.

"Doesn't matter now," Stacker said, moving on. "Where should we begin?"

Cortana and Stacker then explained all the events that occurred shortly before the war ended, and shortly after – his disappearance, what Ackerson tried to do, the Covenant assault, and finally, Cortana being made human.

"She was going more and more insane by the day," Stacker said. "If my knowledge of smart AI's is right, they only have seven years to operate before they start thinking too much and the die. That was happening to Cortana, and after knowing her for more than a year, I didn't want her to go.

"I hooked up with a few of my buddies who were now part of a resistance group, and we stole a some prototype Covenant cloning tech, and we made her a body and put her into a human brain. As far as I know, rampancy pushes an AI closer to that of a human mind, too much for their coding. All we did was put her inside a human brain, and that's as high as it will go. Other than that, her physical body doesn't age quite so much – a little modification we threw in for good measure."

The Master Chief shot a look at Cortana, and eyed all her features. He could only barely remember the old AI Cortana now. Any attempt at thinking about her only lead to him thinking about the human her.

"Chief, what's your most recent memory of the war?" Cortana asked.

The Spartan immediately recalled the mission.

"We were in the Eastern United States, and my Spartans and I were supposed to assist in the evacuation of several resistance groups and leaders from a location under siege by the Covenant. I remember one of my Spartans telling me to get down, and after that, there was something that resembled a plasma grenade. When I woke up, I was in a building with Grunts patrolling outside. They didn't even notice I was there."

"So, it pretty much means you didn't run away," Stacker replied. "Its good news, since it means Ackerson was all crap."

"What's next?" the Master Chief asked. He was eager to get back to fighting soon.

"Take it easy Chief," Cortana said. "You'd best stay here for a bit; at least until the Covenant lighten up a bit out there."

Suddenly, there was a horrible retching sound from behind one of the doors. Cortana and Stacker turned in its direction, and the Master Chief reached for his rifle. The door then opened, and a ragged man walked out.

His battered and torn clothes were covered in grime and other bits. His sandy hair was ragged and long, and his face was covered by a full beard, which was currently covered in what appeared to be vomit. He staggered and stumbled about, apparently intoxicated, and then promptly fell flat on his face.

"Oh, we haven't introduced you to our other roomie yet," Cortana said. "Chief, meet Rhineland."

The Spartan relaxed, and set his rifle down. Stacker walked over to the man Cortana called 'Rhineland' and checked him.

"Chief, could you lend me a hand?"

The Master Chief walked over and helped Stacker carry Rhineland back into his room. Cortana watched on only for a moment.

"Okay, you boys can handle this. I'll leave you be" she said before leaving for her room, possibly to change out of her dirtied clothes.

The Master Chief and Stacker brought the drunk back into his room and moved him into a corner of the room.

"He's a mess, as usual. Drinks all day and vomits every few hours" Stacker said.

Rhineland's room was practically empty, except for the presence of what appeared to be a near mountain of beer bottles, and a UNSC supply crate. Walking over to the crate, the Master Chief dusted it off, and saw a familiar insignia.

"He's an ODST?"

"Was," Stacker explained. "I don't know how he ended up as a drunk, but it was due to the war I think. I heard the last few days or so he lost his nerve, which explains his nice little addiction. I let him stay here just after the war, and he's been here ever since."

The Master Chief sighed as he looked from the supply crate to the intoxicated former ODST in the corner of the room. He was a victim of war fatigue, destroyed perhaps by the very conflict he had chosen to fight in.

"Dammit, wake up Rhineland!" Stacker said, hitting him on the side of his face.

Rhineland grumbled and slowly woke up. His movements were slow and sluggish. He lazily looked around, and stopped when he saw the Master Chief.

"Hm, a Spartan?"

He then went on and slurred some incoherent mumbles before falling unconscious and slumping to the side. Stacker gave up trying to wake Rhineland up.

"Does he have any spare clips?" the Master Chief asked, remembering his meager amounts of ammunition.

Stacker shrugged, but the pointed towards Rhineland's supply crate.

"Check in there. I don't think he'll mind."

Reaching to the locks on the crate's lid, the Spartan snapped them off and opened it, a lout screech emitted from the rusty hinges. Looking inside, the Master Chief saw a neatly folded uniform, combat armour, and a heavily modified sniper rifle, as well as a decent supply of ammunition for it. Picking up the rifle, the Spartan examined the work done to the weapon.

The rifle was once a standard SRS99CS2 AM sniper rifle. The original boxlike stock was removed in favour of a smaller telescopic design, and was fitted with a small cheek rest that was mounted so it rested slightly overtop the stock itself, so it would not interfere with when it was rearranged. The optics was a departure from the usual smart-linked scope; a traditional glass set of optics, only capable of 20x magnification at most. The Spartan then noticed a quick release switch on the mounting bracket of the scope, suggesting it was capable of being removed and refitted with another in short notice.

Everything ahead of the standard handgrip was the most customized. The barrel was shortened, and the muzzle brake was reduced as well, but the barrel was a custom design with a quicker spin, possibly allowing the sniper to get better distance out of the shorter barrel. Running beneath the barrel and into the handgrip was a long gyroscopic compensator. Overtop of the weapon, the folding bipod was removed. Judging from the setup, the weapon was designed to be small and compact, essential for providing sniper fire on the go.

Examining the magazine, the Master Chief noted it was slightly larger than the standard size, carrying six .450 caliber rounds. They were smaller than the 14.5mm anti-material rounds, but were still just as effective, given the sniper would be able to shoot well enough.

Curiously, the Master Chief noted there was already a magazine loaded. Taking a closer look at the heavily customized sniper rifle, he was surprised to find that a bullet was jammed in between the ejection port and the barrel. The bullet would prevent the weapon from working, not unless removed. The process for removing it would be easy, but the Master Chief wondered why the weapon was left jammed this entire time.

There was then a groan from Rhineland as he woke up. The former ODST stood up, and looked straight at the Master Chief. He swayed around, a symbol that he was possibly still intoxicated, but he compensated and balanced the best he could. His look was not threatening, at least not threatening enough for the Master Chief.

"You were an ODST once, right? Also a sniper?" the Master Chief said, turning to face the old soldier.

"Yeah, I'm a Helljumper. Feet first into Hell! Heh, back in the day…"

"Can you still fight? I'll need whatever help I can get against the Covenant."

Rhineland scoffed at the Master Chief.

"Fight the Covenant? No, no, no…"

Rhineland looked away, rubbing the side of his head. He was muttering something beneath his breath, something that the Master Chief was not able to decipher in between his slurring.

The Master Chief held the rifle forward, offering it out to Rhineland.

"You did a good job modifying it," the Master Chief remarked. "You'd be a great deal of help for the resistance. All you'd need to do for now is fix the jam on your gun."

Rhineland stopped when he heard the word 'jam.' Looking down at the weapon, Rhineland's eyes began to water.

"Too old, too late," he muttered, looking away from it. "Too many people die…too many…all of them…dead…"

He then slumped down against the wall and reached for a bottle of beer lying next to him. Rhineland drowned the entire bottle down in what appeared to have been a quarter of a second, and then fell into unconsciousness.

"Great, he won't be up for hours now," Stacker said. "Let's just leave him."

The Master Chief agreed. Before he followed Stacker out the door, he rested the sniper rifle in a corner of Rhineland's room. The Spartan considered fixing the jam, but he decided not to. He would best leave the soldier to care for his own weapon. After setting the weapon down, the Master Chief followed Stacker out into the living room.

"Are you serious about joining in with the resistance?" Stacker asked as he closed Rhineland's door.

"What else can I do?"

Stacker hesitated for a second. After that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to the Spartan.

"It's a map of most of the major tunnels that the resistance operates out of," Stacker explained. "It has all the entrances and exits as well. There's one not far from here. If you get there, look for Hawkins – he's one of my old buddies."

The Master Chief looked at Stacker curiously.

"I was part of the resistance before," Stacker said. "All I do now is find information and pass it along to them, and as such, I know their locations."

With that, Stacker left and journeyed to his room, leaving the Master Chief alone in the living room. He examined the map carefully, and tried to apply its details to the streets outside, hoping to get a general idea where the entrance was.

For the next few hours, the Spartan looked out the window at the streets, and back at the map. Surprisingly, he wasn't hungry, so he was quiet for the entire span of time when the others ate. Connor and Cortana made the food, Stacker ate it with them, and the leftovers went to Rhineland. The Master Chief thought the idea of Cortana cooking was somewhat humorous, and he kindly chose not to eat.

Shortly after they ate, the sun began to set outside. The Master Chief continued to observe the streets outside. He had not yet memorized the layout of the map, as well as the street. Going over his plan, the Master Chief was ready to go.

"Enjoying the view?"

Turning around slightly, the Master Chief saw Connor. The teenager had his arms folded over his chest while he glared at the Spartan.

"Anything wrong?" the Master Chief asked.

"Why are you back, Chief?" Connor asked. "Too many people have died because of the fighting, Chief. Getting back into it will only make things worse."

"There is still a threat, and it needs to be removed," the Master Chief replied. "The Covenant would want nothing more than to kill every single one of us, and as long as they're here, there is still a threat that needs to be met."

Connor scoffed and unfolded his arms.

"Is that the typical Spartan mindset - kill everything? Make war with everything? Doesn't the idea of human loss mean anything to you?"

"Humanity has lost a lot, and with the Covenant on Earth, we will continue to lose until there isn't anything left."

Connor shook his head, his anger slowly building.

"And this is coming from the heroic Spartan who ran away, and in turn resulted in humanity losing the war."

The Master Chief then turned around fully and looked straight into Connor's eyes.

"What's your problem Connor? Why do you hate everything – the Spartans, the war, the resistance?" the Spartan asked, his voice iron firm.

"You remember your last mission you were on when you disappeared? The one where you had to save the resistance leaders?" Connor began. "My dad was there. As soon as you disappeared, your mission was called off, and my dad died with everybody else there - all because of you."

"How's that possible? That happened thirty-five years ago, and you're not even twenty?"

Connor then clenched his fist, and his eyes narrowed in anger.

"It was possible due to a lot of things you wouldn't know out," Connor replied, his face flushed with humiliated and embarrassed, while moisture formed around his eyes. "You don't know that type of pain, because the only thing you Spartans can do is kill, which was exactly what you tried to do, but that only led to my dad getting killed, all because Earth's heroic savior ran away from his mission."

Both men were silent. Connor wipes his eyes, having told of what happened to him. The Master Chief was quiet as well, as he pondered Connor's words.

"What would you want me to do, then?" the Master Chief asked.

"Stop trying to be a hero," Connor replied, walking away. "If you don't, more people will die trying to follow you, or die because of you."

The Master Chief was again left alone. Was Connor right? Was he solely to blame for all the events of the past thirty-five years? If he was to step back into the fight, would things only get worse?

No, it couldn't be. The Master Chief never ran from his battles. He would never leave one until he had won. The Covenant have now entrenched themselves in the planet, and if not removed, they would continue to kill off the remnants of humanity. Now, in order to remove them, it would require necessary force, and with force comes a certain cost in life.

The Master Chief pondered the situation and its consequences as he sat down, his back parallel to a wall. The window in the living room was out to his left. Hours passed, as the sun had set, and the moon had risen in its place. The Master Chief felt seconds pass by as he sat alone and, for the first time in so many months, got the chance to do nothing but think.

He then heard light footsteps approach him. The Master Chief did not have to even look to know who it was, but he did anyways, knowing it was Cortana.

Cortana was wearing a baggy sweater and a pair of underwear. Without a pair of pants, the Master Chief was able to make out the shape of her long, smooth legs. Cortana's delicate features were illuminated by the moonlight shining in from the window. She moved closer and sat down beside the Spartan.

Somehow, the Master Chief felt strange when around her now. In the past, he acknowledged her more as a little voice in his head, accompanied with a spike of cold mercury. Now that she had a physical body, he felt her presence, but without the coldness, the feeling was different.

It was as if part of him softened when the human Cortana was near.

"Hey Chief, can't sleep?" she asked.

"I don't sleep well" he replied.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two.

"I heard your argument with Connor a little while ago," Cortana said, breaking the silence. "Don't worry about him – he's very temperamental about the subject."

"If it never happened, would everything be different?" the Master Chief asked. "Would humanity even be in this mess?"

"I'm not sure," Cortana replied, solemnly. "I try not to think about it."

Again, there was more silence between the two.

"What are you going to do now?" Cortana asked him.

"I don't really have a choice" the Master Chief replied, his voice strong. Getting up, the Master Chief picked up his Battle Rifle and slammed in a fresh magazine. The ammo counter read thirty-six – a full magazine.

"I don't know if I was the reason why humanity lost, but if I was, I will be the one to push them off Earth."

"So, you're leaving?" Cortana asked, standing up. There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, as though she did not want him to leave.

"I have to."

The Master Chief gave the weapon's bolt a smart tug and chambered a round. Walking to the door, the Spartan opened it and checked the corners.

"John."

The Master Chief stopped and turned around.

"We lost you thirty-five years ago," she said, her voice quiet and saddened. She paused for a moment. "Come back to me, okay? Come back to me in one piece."

Suddenly, Cortana did the most unexpected thing. She walked up to the Spartan and wrapped her arms around him. Despite the Spartan's huge size and bulky armor, her small arms were still able to wrap around. Her head lazily rested against his chest plate.

"Yes ma'am" the Master Chief quietly replied.

"Call me Cortana, Chief" Cortana corrected.

Walking out the door, he made his way down to the lobby and out the door. As he did, the Master Chief felt strange inside. The feeling he had when around the human Cortana appeared to have been enhanced when she had hugged him. The feeling was warm – not warm as in a temperature rise, but warm in some other method the Spartan was unable to identify.

Whatever it was, the Master Chief ignored it as best he could and continued with his trek towards the tunnel entrance. Looking up into the night sky, the Master Chief could notice into the distance the silhouette of a Covenant ship, hovering just over the city's arcology. Judging from the shape and size of it, it was an assault carrier, a flagship for a Prophet.

The Covenant had won thirty-five years ago, and had since maintained a firm control over the human remnants.

It was now time to loosen it.

* * *

End Note: Because of changes I made in the prologue (getting rid of Jim, in particular), I had to change how the Chief meets Cortana again. Doing so, I did a bit to change how they initally react to each other, particuarly from the Chief's point of view. As an interesting note, his feelings when he's around Cortana were inspired by my own feelings when around the girl I had a soft spot for. It's an interesting case of putting a bit of yourself into a character. 

Oh, and forgive me for making Cortana walk around in her underwear. I can honestly say, I have no idea where it came from. Then again, I always have figured that her legs would be quite shapely...Anyways, moving along...

I also found a better way to introduce Rhineland, and I followed up upon it and a bit later as well. He was interesting to characterize, and I liked how he turned out in this chapter. I also changed a bit of 'Yuteryi and 'Jeryima - in particular, 'Jeryima's armour from blue to green. I made this change because I just realized that in the Covenant, they actually don't have Elites in green armour. So, I figured maybe using it as 'civilian colours' for 'Jeryima. And while I'm still talking about him, his character will be developed the same way he was in the old chapters, but much later. I found a bit more potential to characterize him at a later point. Introducing his character next to 'Yuteryi also helped to set up the differences between each other, 'Jeryima being like a nerd/geek, much like myself, and 'Yuteryi being the hardass, respected military type.

About 'Yuteryi - I can honestly say he's my favourite character to write about and develop. I have great plans for him much later into the story, and in the very end, I've been able to turn him into a killing machine.

That, I enjoy doing.


	4. FistAlpha

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 3: Fist-Alpha 

The lobby was abandoned, as the Master Chief expected. A large desk, perhaps once the information desk, was at the back of the lobby, with two doors tucked away to the back two corners behind it.

The map led the Spartan here, to an abandoned building not far from the apartment. He cautiously walked inside.

The Master Chief examined the debris, noting their positioning and how surprisingly intact the pieces were. Heavier pieces were set farther into the lobby, while smaller pieces were spread about like caltrops. They were intentionally placed, as if to provide cover from an assault from the entrance, or at least to delay an attacker.

Overall, the entire lobby appeared to be falling apart on its own, so more chances than naught, the entire place was dismissed, which would luckily help camouflage the location from Covenant attention.

Suddenly, the Master Chief could hear movement, coming in from beyond the lobby. Within mere seconds, a small squad of five soldiers appeared from a door, their weapons aimed at the Spartan.

The soldiers were equipped with scarred and dented marine combat armour. Some did not wear helmets, while a few were lucky to wear something resembling the old helmets from the war. Regardless of what equipment they wore, they all wore a similar look of surprise.

"What the-? A Spartan?" one of them remarked.

"I assume there's a tunnel entrance located here," the Master Chief said. "I'm looking for Hawkins."

"Hawkins? Who told you?" another soldier asked.

"Stacker did, and he was the one who gave me this location."

The soldiers looked on in awe. One of them pulled out his radio and contacted somebody possibly back at command. After listening for orders and putting away his radio, the soldier spoke up.

"Come with us Spartan. Turns out old man Hawkins wants to see you as well."

The soldiers walked into through the door, while the Master Chief followed behind them. As he followed them through a wreaked hallway, the Master Chief didn't feel right. It was not in the location, but rather in the sloppy tactics that soldiers used – they let him follow right behind them, without bothering to watch him at least.

He reminded himself that these were not real soldiers, but rather, civilians willing to fight against the Covenant.

But it did not matter – so long as he could get through this as quick as possible.

"Here we are," the lead soldier reported, pointing towards a reinforced manhole cover.

Opening it up, he climbed in, as did the others. The Master Chief waited until they were all the way down before he did so as well. The ladder rungs were surprisingly well reinforced, enough to support the full weight of his MJOLNIR battle armour.

When his feet touched the floor, the Master Chief looked around at the surrounding area, which was the inside of a tunnel. The tunnel was wide – perhaps eight or nine feet in diameter with plenty of headspace for him. The centre of the tunnel carried along sewage and water, while a walkway flanked either side of it. The entire tunnel was drenched in darkness.

"Damn, my night vision goggles are busted."

The Master Chief watched one of the soldiers fumble around with the goggles, then giving up and putting them aside.

"Does anybody have a flashlight?" he asked. The others shook their heads.

"Allow me" the Master Chief said, stepping in and activating his helmet's flashlight.

A thick beam of light illuminated the tunnel, allowing the Master Chief to better see the detail of the walls. From what he was able to tell, the tunnel was a mix of concrete, brick, and steel.

"You'll move with me Spartan," the lead soldier said. "Keep your flashlight pointed ahead for me to see, and I'll lead us back to base."

There was a snicker from behind them, coming from one of the soldiers.

"Hey, McCreary, I bet you thirty bucks you forgot the way. Again" the soldier joked, putting emphasis on the last word.

The lead soldier, apparently named McCreary, scoffed and smiled.

"Alright, thirty bucks it is then Hannigan. Pay me when we get there."

"_If_ we get there."

McCreary began to walk down the tunnel, as did the Master Chief. The Spartan followed next to him, keeping his flashlight pointed down the tunnel. He noted how…immature the soldier Hannigan was. These men were definitely not well trained, or at least as well trained as the Marines.

Although the Master Chief did not pay close attention, he knew that there was a conversation going on behind his back among the four others. If the Spartan would be to make an educated guess, he would know they were talking about him – how he suddenly appeared.

An unknown number of minutes later, they reached a dead end. Hannigan laughed at McCreary as he felt the wall.

"You got us lost again, McCreary? Well, at least you got us somewhere, not like the last time."

McCreary didn't answer, instead feeling his fingers along the texture of the wall. Suddenly, the wall shook and slid open. McCreary's fingers had been trying to find a secret switch on the wall for the hidden doorway.

"Right," McCreary said with pride. "So, who owes who thirty bucks, and who forgot _their_ way back to base?"

Hannigan grumbled as they walked through the door and into the resistance base.

There was a long and cramped hallway behind the entrance, dimly lit by flickering light bulbs on the ceiling. The hallway so narrow that perhaps only three men could pass by at the same time so with the bulk of his MJOLNIR battle armour, the Master Chief took up most of the space. Walking along the hallway, the Master Chief looked off to the sides where there was occasionally an open doorway, leading into other room.

The first room he saw was filled with men, sitting down against a wall tending to their weapons. None of the soldiers in the room appeared over the age of twenty, and were equipped in badly dented and scarred combat armour. One of the young soldiers looked to the entrance and judging from the shock on his face, had seen the Master Chief. He told the person next to him and within seconds, the entire room stared in shock at the sight of the Spartan.

Without stopping, they moved along, passing by what appeared to have been a barracks, an infirmary, an armoury, and other small room. Along the way, many more caught sight of the Master Chief and followed behind, whispering in excited chatters about what they just saw, while some grumbled incoherently.

After walking the entire length of the hallway and reaching a thick reinforced door at the end, McCreary opened the door and let the Master Chief walk in first. Inside it was another room, only larger and had better lighting. Desks and tables lined the walls and took up most of the space in this room, while diagrams and maps covered them. More than a dozen men hunched in their desks, examining the diagrams in closer detail, some sporting either flashlights to see better with, or even using a pair of night vision goggles.

Close to the center of the room was a larger and more solidly built table with a large and heavily detailed map of the city lying on it. An older man and two others looked over it, but their attention turned to the Master Chief, as well as all the soldiers now crammed inside the same room, following with keen interest of why there was a Spartan in their base.

"Master Chief, I presume?" the older man asked, standing straight and walking around the table to face the Spartan.

A murmur of awe came from the others, while McCreary, standing just behind the Spartan, looked at him in shock.

"So I was walking next to a war hero the entire time," he said in amazement. "Well I'll be damned."

While McCreary was amazed, most of the other soldiers were not. The Master Chief could hear their negative remarks, which were all the same of what he was expecting.

"I'm Hawkins," the old man explained. "Stacker contacted me a little while ago and told me to expect you."

Hawkins appeared to be just as old as Stacker, with his hair was turning grey, and his leathery face bearing multiple wrinkles and scars. He looked like a veteran, one who had fought endlessly for many long years.

"What brings you here Chief?"

"I figured the resistance needs help," the Master Chief replied. "If you plan on fighting back against the Covenant, you'll need as much help as you can get."

Hawkins folded his arms and shook his head, looking back down at the map.

"Explain to me just why we'd need the help of one who ran from the field of battle about thirty years ago, and thus abandoned our original war effort?"

The Master Chief then went on to explain his tale, about how he knew nothing of what happened. It was met with scoffs and cold responses, all typical of the resistance mindset about him. But amongst it, there was one voice that stood out.

"Guys, shut up. Are we going to turn away our best hope here?"

A single soldier stepped forward. He was not a heavily remarkable man – he was of an average height and build, and the poor lighting partially obscured his dark skin. His voice had a slight Irish accent to it, but it was difficult to successfully place.

"Tell me, how many of us have even managed to kill a Covie?" he began. "Not just those little Grunts, but the big guys, like the Elites, or even a Hunter or Brute if we've been lucky enough to see one?"

Only a few soldiers waved their hands, privileged enough to have done so.

"If put together, we've only killed probably a few dozen Elites," he explained. "And for those few dozen, we lose how many to try and kill them? The recent raid on the street proved that. We lost a lot of good men up there that day, for a street that was already occupied with waiting Covenant."

The soldier then motioned towards the Master Chief.

"I don't know how many Covenant the Chief here has killed, but I'll safely say that he has easily killed at the very least, a few _hundred_, getting up to a thousand maybe. More than any of us for sure and more than all of us combined."

Silence went out amongst the soldiers as they listened.

"The Chief knows how to best kill the Covies, and he's done it for so long. If we're stupid enough to actually try and take back our planet, we need an actual soldier who has spent their _life_ fighting them, not a ragged bunch of kids who can barely fire an SMG.

"Give the Chief the respect he deserves – because he's the one who's going to help us win. If we don't, the most we're going to do is die together."

The soldier remained silent, some muttering incoherent words beneath their breaths, but generally, they were now unsure of how to see the Master Chief.

"Well, since he's here, he might as well help," Hawkins said. "Chief, stay put, we'll get you fighting soon enough. Everybody else, return to your posts."

The soldiers did as they were ordered and piled out. When the room was empty, the soldier who stuck up for the Spartan greeted him.

"Welcome to our base Chief," he said. "Name's Foley, second-in-command of Fist-Alpha, the original fighting group that started it all."

"Fist-Alpha?" the Master Chief asked, nothing how peculiar the name sounded.

"Not exactly a real military sounding unit name that you'd be used to Chief, but it's good enough," Foley explained. "We were pulled together awhile back by Hawkins and Stacker, and we practically started the resistance. Began with a few, and now we've got close to three hundred boys with us, all spread out amongst several tunnels running under the city. Granted, there are some other resistance groups as well, but none are as large or as well organized as we are, and, better yet, spearheaded by guys who actually fought the Covenant."

Foley then walked over to the map and explained to the Master Chief the various points of interest.

"This is the City – don't ask me what its name is, because we don't know and we never figured it out. It's your typical, all around metropolis – a wide and sprawling urban playground. Cramped streets and broken highways and roads are the main arteries of this place, but it's mainly closed quarters – urban warfare galore for us."

The Master Chief looked at the map and noted two parts, the first being a thick border surrounding a certain area of the city.

"That's the wall," Foley explained. "The Covies built it to keep us in. There's nothing outside of it, except the ruins of the rest of the city. We've had a few bases out there, but since the Covenant don't patrol there, and since we've already cleared most of the area of any supplies, there's nothing fascinating beyond the wall."

The second point of interest was the strange pyramid structure in the centre of the city.

"That's the City Arcology, one of the first structures of its kind. It was built back in 2550, but was never really completed. It's a rough six hundred story pyramid, built out of reinforced steel and Titanium-A - a real marvel of construction and design."

"An Arcology?" the Master Chief asked, trying to remember what it was.

"An Arcology is a massive vertical structure designed to hold a large population the same way a city should be able to. The basic structure was finished, but all the rest was abandoned when the war got into full gear."

"If we're right, it's now the Covenant headquarters," Foley said, disappointed. "They mainly use it for vehicle storage, but we've seen the occasional Prophets and high ranking Elites live inside of it. Y'know, it's actually ironic that they hate everything having to do with us, but are now tenants occupying one of our finest architectural achievements."

The Master Chief looked carefully at the structure on the map. That was where the Covenant powerbase was at. All that would possibly be needed would be for a single strike at it, and the Covenant command over the city could be broken. But what would it need in order to succeed? How many of the Covenant's finest warriors are stationed inside? How many of their leaders?

"Foley, why not give the Chief a tour of the base? He'll need to know the area if he's going to work with us" Hawkins said.

"Right, well I'd better start here – this is the command centre, the central mind of Fist-Alpha, as well as with probably the entire resistance."

Foley then led the Master Chief out the door and showed him the individual rooms that connected to the central hallway. They included one of many barracks, an infirmary, a large storage room, an armoury, and a 'ready room' for the soldiers to prepare their weapons and equipment before venturing out into the tunnels for either patrol, or perhaps an actual attack.

The ready rooms and the armoury were located right next to each other, and was located within close proximity to the main entrance, possibly to make it easier to get whatever equipment possible and get out quicker. The Master Chief stopped off at the armoury and looked over the weapons the resistance had in use.

"If I was to say one good thing about the Covenant, it would be that they've picked a city with lots of arms caches to herd the remaining humans into."

It was true – the armoury, which also included a short firing range with targets, while small by UNSC standards, was filled with plenty of weapons and ammunition. Everything was there, from the variants of the M6 pistol, plenty of SMG's, various rifles that including the newer BR55 Battle Rifles and the older MA5B assault rifles, a wide variety of grenades, and even what appeared to be an improvised rocket launcher. The Spartan eyed the strange weapon, a tube with a crude sighting and firing mechanism and a hastily painted arrow at one end of the weapon.

"We've been able to find rockets, but we haven't found enough launchers for them," Foley explained, heaving the weapon over his shoulder, careful not to fire the weapon. "So, we did the next best thing and fit each rocket into a Titanium-A tube. It's easy to carry and fire, and plus, it's lighter than a full Jackhammer."

The Master Chief had to admit that the resistance, in spite of the limitations, was still able to make the best of what they had.

Foley's radio then began to beep.

"That's for me. I'll see you around Chief. Just take it easy – we'll get you back to fighting soon."

Foley then left, leaving the Master Chief alone in the armoury. The Spartan examined the weapons further. While there were a lot of weapons, but they were all in varying states of repair, with some with minor scratches and dents, while for others, it was sheer luck they were still working.

"Uh, sir?"

A small voice came from behind the Spartan. Turning around, the Master Chief realized it belonged to one of the soldiers. He was very young; perhaps fifteen or sixteen, and he had an SMG in his hands. He was nervous, and he looked down at his feet a lot.

"What's wrong?"

"My SMG, sir, it's broken I think."

The Master Chief picked the weapon up and examined it. It was the same as most of the others weapons – in terrible shape. The stock was also closed, and the fore grip was folded up.

Reaching for the cocking lever, the Spartan gave it a smart tug. A bullet ejected out from the chamber. It was nothing but a jam, and was probably why the weapon appeared 'broken' in the first place.

"It was just a jam. Give it a try now."

Handing the weapon back to the young soldier, the Master Chief observed how he fired his weapon. The SMG jerked uncontrollably, with the young soldier almost unable to hold onto it. The 5mm bullets hit random spaces downrange, barely hitting the target at all. The solder fired until the weapon's magazine was empty.

"Try this."

The Spartan took the SMG from the soldier's hands and extended the stock and unfolded the fore grip, and also loaded in a fresh magazine. After giving the weapon back to the soldier, the Master Chief went over the basic firing techniques, and corrected at every possible moment the shortcomings of his stance and aiming.

When he was finished, the soldier had his weapon shouldered properly, and was actually using the sights to aim. When he fired, he fired in bursts, just as the Master Chief told him, and his shots actually hit the target. He continued to fire until the magazine was emptied out.

His firing and aiming were still sloppy to the Master Chief, even by marine recruit standards, but considering how the marines never had soldiers the age of fifteen to sixteen, and considering how this soldier wasn't exactly a trained soldier at all, he wasn't too bad.

"Keep your weapon loaded, ready, and cleaned at all times. You're doing fine soldier" the Master Chief commented.

"Wait, sir I…"

The soldier looked timidly to the ground as he heard the Master Chief's order. It took less than a second for the Master Chief to realize why.

"Do you know how to disassemble your SMG?"

He shook his head. The Master Chief then went over the basic procedure for SMG disassembly for the young soldier. He taught him all the things he knew, all the methods and ways of caring for the weapon. Within moments, other soldiers began to gather around and they too had questions.

The Master Chief was then helping them on how to properly aim and use their weapons. The Spartan was only able to hope that by the time he was finished, these young freedom fighters would become more like actual soldiers.

* * *

End Note: This was the first of the 'new' chapters, with new material, etc. I always felt that a type of scene where the Chief is introduced to the resistance, which, by the way, I will be referring to solely as 'Fist-Alpha' (kudos if you know which game that was inspired from) from here on out. The introduction also helped to introduce three things. First, the characters of Foley and Hawkins, both playing roles later into the story, Hawkins in particular. Foley was already in the other chapters, but I saw potential to make more of a character out of him. Hawkins is a new one, and I've tried to set him up as the leader of Fist-Alpha. 

Next, I also set up some of the conflict between the soldiers and the Master Chief, the bitterness they still have for him apparently disappearing. I felt this was necessary because in the older chapters, I introduced the idea that they hated the Chief for it, but it never was explained or looked into much. I saw an opportunity to do it here, and I think it was a hit and miss sort of thing. I got part of it, but it could have been expanded a bit more I felt.

After that is the setup for how the Chief will earn their trust back, another thing that I needed to expand on. In my older chapters, he just came in, killed Covenant, and before you know it, everybody likes him. Not good enough. I saw another opportunity here and in another chapter to do so.

I also developed a bit of a focal point in the story - the arcology. This came after playing one too many games of Deus Ex: Invisible War. To the unenlightened, an arcology (a combination of the words 'architecture' and 'ecology') is a proposed huge structure that can support a large population density inside of it. Think shopping mall combined with apartment building and small city put into one huge as hell building, multipled by a thousand. It was an idea that has been on my mind for a bit, and I wanted to create a location that I can place the Covenant command at, rather than just some random location over the City. The arcology is fitting well, because realistically speaking, I figure humanity would have built at least one to play around with, and it helps to have the Covenant stationed around it, rather uneasily, to develop where their base of power is, for future chapters.

And at the same time, the idea of an arcology has fasinated me for a long time, and I gave in to it.


	5. The Sniper's Lament

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 4: The Sniper's Lament

"_Eagle-1, this is Convoy-Alpha, we're ready to move. Give us some cover, over."_

"_Copy that, Convoy-Alpha. Covering."_

"_Alert – we're picking up a Seraph and three Banshees, approaching on your six! Get out of there Eagle-1!"_

"_Eagle-1 to Convoy, we're taking fire! We're going down, I repeat, we're going down!"_

Rhineland woke up in cold sweat, and in a warm pile of puke. It smelled like vodka, and it probably was vodka at one point.

He grumbled incoherently as he sat up against the wall and wiped away at his face. Everything was quiet - so quiet that all Rhineland could hear was the sound of his own breathing.

Also, the distant sounds of gunfire.

Rhineland then focused as best he could, in spite of his mild hangover, and realized there was no gunfire at all – at least outside of his mind. Inside, he could hear it as clear as the day he was there.

The voices as well were still clear in his head, and they repeated mercilessly, over and over like an old recording. The frantic yelling, the screaming…

All of the dying…

It was bringing back too many memories, all too soon.

Rhineland could take no more. He reached for one of the bottles of vodka lying around his room. Pressing it against his lips, Rhineland waited for when the strong alcohol would splash into his mouth and drop him into another drunken stupor, one where he would not hear or remember anything.

Sadly, there was nothing. The bottle was empty. Throwing it aside, Rhineland scrambled around, trying to find at least _something _he could use to intoxicate himself. His hands swept the hard floor, knocking over mountains of old bottles.

In spite of his determination for a drink, Rhineland couldn't find anything. He cursed loudly, and hit the floor. He needed that drink. For the many past years, he always needed it. When he was drunk, there was nothing wrong with the world. Without it, Rhineland was a victim of past wounds that tore open once again.

Rhineland tried to stand up, but his legs were far too weak. The best he was able to do was roll onto his back. His hand brushed against the cold floor, but his skin felt the gritty texture of sand.

"_Rhineland! Get up kid! We've got incoming!"_

"_Anybody hurt?"_

"_Christ, Eddy and Rosenberg are dead!"_

"_The pilots are dead too, Sarge! Rhineland's wounded!"_

"_Shit! Covenant troops on our six!"_

There was nothing Rhineland could do – he tried to take his mind off the voices, but the voices played in his head. The more he concentrated, the stronger the noises grew, and the memory only reinforced itself.

"_Get off the street! We'll find better cover in that building!"_

"_I'm hit! I'm hit! Dammit, it burns!"_

"_More Covenant, incoming! Watch the side entrance!"_

"_They convoy has just sent a few Warthogs to pick us up. Set up a defensive perimeter until they get here."_

"_What about Rhineland?"_

"_He's hurt. Move him into a good hiding spot and keep him covered. Rhineland, if you can help, cover the side entrance and keep them from getting behind us."_

Rhineland's hands covered his face as he yelled and screamed. Tears slowly formed and leaked from his tear ducts, getting smeared from his hands over the rest of his face.

All he could hear now was gunfire, and lots of it. The rhythmic beat of a Battle Rifle burst, the rapid chatter of an SMG, as well as the pulsing of a plasma rifle.

It then grew more and more frantic. Rhineland could hear the yelling and swearing now. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as the gunfire and yelling suddenly died.

At that point, Rhineland was reduced to nothing. His tears flowed freely now as the noises died, and the realization sank in.

They were all dead.

"_You were an ODST once, right? Also a sniper?"_

A new voice came into Rhineland's head. He recognized it slightly. It sounded only recent.

"_Can you still fight? I'll need whatever help I can get against the Covenant."_

The voice…it was extremely familiar. Rhineland thought hard about it, trying to remember where it was from. He was rewarded with a blurry mental image of a big green figure.

Rhineland then realized who it was – the Master Chief, the super soldier, the Spartan. Was he here? Was he urging him to fight? Rhineland was able to recall it slightly, but it felt more like a bizarre dream than actual reality.

"_You did a good job modifying it. You'd be a great deal of help for the resistance. All you'd need to do for now is fix the jam on your gun."_

Something then clicked inside Rhineland's head. The Master Chief was carrying a sniper rifle. Rhineland's sniper rifle.

Rhineland froze as he remembered his original weapon. Looking around the room, he saw his supply crate, and he noticed it was open. Someone had to have opened it and taken out his rifle. That someone had to have been the Master Chief. Being unable to stand up, Rhineland crawled over to it and peered inside, his gut clenching together as he saw his old equipment. Everything was in there, minus the rifle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Rhineland spotted its familiar shape. The weapon was laid down in the corner of the room. For a moment, Rhineland froze as he gazed upon the weapon.

"_All you'd need to do for now is fix the jam on your gun."_

The thought about the weapon in its jammed state haunted Rhineland. Fear grew inside of him when he thought about it. It was a single bullet that caused it all, and for thirty-five years, it had remained lodged in the weapon.

Crawling over to it, Rhineland picked up the rifle and looked over it. As his fingers wrapped around the sniper rifle's grip, Rhineland remembered the feel of the weapon. It was a long time ago when he had last rested his hands on his weapon.

He turned the weapon over and looked down at the ejector port and the cocking handle. The view of it frightened Rhineland even more. More memories came back to him as he stared at it. Thirty-five years ago, he looked at it with disbelief, and that disbelief was what broke him then.

Seconds turned to minutes as Rhineland stared emotionally at the weapon. Suddenly, his hand reached forward, grabbed the cocking handle, and pulled back. Sure enough the bullet ejected from the chamber and clattered as it hit and rolled around the floor.

Rhineland was reluctant to pick up the bullet, but he did so. He stared into the dull brass cartridge, unsure of what he was supposed to do now. This bullet was what brought him down into depression and grief. It could have been just another kill for Rhineland, but all it did was tear him apart.

All Rhineland did with it was slide it into his pocket, and refocus on his sniper rifle. His hand wrapped around the grip once more, and his other hand held the hand guard. Lifting the weapon, Rhineland could almost remember the weight of the weapon. Strangely, it seemed heavier now.

It meant that he had to exercise a bit more to get used to the weight again.

Without thinking, Rhineland lifted the rifle and shouldered it. He peered down the scope and lined the crosshairs up with some random stain on the wall. For a moment, he imagined it was the head of an Elite, and he imagined its head blowing up in a cloud of blood and gore.

The crosshairs wavered a bit, but it wavered more than what Rhineland could remember. In a second, his mind went back to some of the basic sniping techniques that he was drilled with back in sniper school.

The teachings echoed through his head, and he remembered them as clearly as the day his instructor was screaming them at him. He also remembered some of his old buddies remarking how he had fired a perfect shot through a target's head on his first try, with a Battle Rifle that was not yet zeroed and without a scope.

Rhineland smiled as he remembered the instructor's shock, while his teammates commended him.

Suddenly, everything cleared up for Rhineland. He looked at the rest of the room and noted all the bottles of beer and vodka he'd drink to drown his sorrows. Thinking hard, he was unable to remember what it felt like just then. Looking down at his rifle, however, Rhineland felt something new.

The former ODST looked down at his sniper rifle, and he felt hope.

* * *

End Note: This is yet another new chapter that I felt like doing for awhile. First off, Rhineland (weird/cool name? That was what I was thinking three years ago!) was a character that I felt like cutting. He didn't turn out to be of much use, but I kept him anyways. His character started as a drunken former soldier that's been traumatized by war and such, and I wanted to develop him changing and going back into the fight. However, I did the transition from drunk into insane sniper almost too fast in the old chapters, and I felt like changing that by adding a bit into why he's so depressed and why he's drinking, and I wanted to make a chapter devoted towards this aspect of his character. I suppose the reason why is because I wanted him to matter. I think there's a good chance to develop his character into something more, but form the way I'm doing this, his further development as a soldier will come later into the story. For now, he's a soldier who's been hurt by war making a decision to go back into it to do what he can. 


	6. Trust

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 5: Trust

The Master Chief sighed as he walked through the barren hallways of the underground base.

Having been there for the past week, the Master Chief helped the resistance as best he could by training the soldiers. He was teaching them basic marksmanship and weapon maintenance, and they were slowly catching on. While a certain few became better soldiers, the majority was still substandard – the best they would probably be able to do would be to point their weapons in a general direction and fire.

Other than the soldiers, the Master Chief felt the recent attacks done in the past week too, were substandard. They were nothing more than minor assaults, against only small Covenant squads wandering down the street.

The Master Chief resented this, and the fact that he had yet to take another step back up to the surface and fight.

Walking along, the Master Chief then noticed how empty the base was. Where were all the soldiers? The Spartan got to the command centre, which was filled with the usual chaos. He approached Hawkins, who was bent over the city map as usual. Foley was a short distance away at a desk, adjusting a radio. Looking up, Hawkins didn't seem all too pleased that the Master Chief was here.

"I guess it wasn't long before you'd get here anyways" he said.

"What's going on?" the Spartan asked. "Where is everybody?"

Hawkins pointed at certain parts of the map, areas relatively close by.

"Ammo raid. We've confirmed the locations of several arms caches, and we sent some guys out to get them."

"Why was I not informed?" the Master Chief asked.

Hawkins shrugged.

"It isn't important. Besides, it's a milk run. In and out so quick they'll be back in minutes."

The Master Chief frowned silently. Communication was essential, and in the past, there were times where entire military operations would be lost due to a lack of it.

"Hey, Hawkins, incoming transmission from Elias and his team" Foley reported.

"Play it."

Foley turned the radio on, and through it came static and garbled gunfire.

"_Base, we're under attack! We're pinned down at one of the ammo caches by a lot of Covenant! They've got lots of guys, and some tanks! We need help! Dammit, watch the windows! Hold the entrance, hol-"_

The radio then cut out. The Master Chief realized how bad this was.

"I can't get 'em back Hawkins" Foley said, in disbelief.

"What about the reinforcements we sent out earlier? What about them?"

"Can't get 'em either."

"You sent out another squad before all this?" the Master Chief asked, curious about the new development.

Hawkins sighed, rubbing his temples.

"Yes, I did," he replied. "I thought Elias and the rest of his guys needed some more help with brining back the ammo, so I sent those guys out."

"Did you tell the first team about it?"

"No."

The Master Chief's stomach churned at the thought of how many people would die because of this. His stomach churned more when he realized how lax Hawkins appeared to be feeling about it. What was he even thinking when he send the second squad out? Did he realize that by doing so, he had put the lives of several inexperienced soldiers in unnecessary risk?

"What do we do now, Hawkins?" Foley asked.

"Do we have anymore guys to send out?"

Being unable to take much more, the Master Chief stepped in.

"I'll go. It isn't worth sending more guys up to the street to die."

Foley then got up from the radio.

"I'll go too. The Chief will need the location of the building. It'll help if I go with him."

"Both of you stay put – I'm not sending anybody out until we know what's going on."

The Master Chief was resisting the urge to raise his voice at Hawkins's near inability to command. He controlled his voice the best he could.

"We already know what's going on – you have one squad pinned down by a large Covenant force, possibly consisting of infantry and vehicles, and you have another squad unaccounted for. If I go, I can track down the whereabouts of the unaccounted squad, link up with them, and help the pinned down squad."

Hawkins remained silent, unsure of how to respond. The Master Chief wondered what went through his mind, and how he hesitated to even as his own soldiers were at risk.

"Alright," Hawkins finally replied. "Chief, Foley, you guys can go, but bring them back alive."

The Master Chief nodded, and walked out of the command centre with Foley. They stopped by the armoury, where Foley picked up several clips of ammunition for his SMG, as well as half a dozen grenades. The Master Chief took that moment to load up with ammunition for his Battle Rifle and SMG, as well as another half dozen grenades.

"Where's the arms cache?" the Master Chief asked Foley.

"Here" he responded, by taking out a small map and pointing to a building several blocks away from their current position.

"The other teams used an entrance nearby, and we will too. That should allow us to come out where they did, and from there, we can track down the reinforcing team, and aid the guys at the cache as best as possible."

"Alright then," the Master Chief said, loading a fresh clip into his Battle Rifle. "Let's go."

* * *

Ouna 'Ortomee grunted as he listened to the repetitive, steady beating of rain splattering against the roof of his Wraith.

The Red Veteran Elite hated everything having to do with the humans, and in particular, he hated how varied their planet's climate was.

After their fleets bombed most of the planet into oblivion, it affected the climate somewhat, but it still allowed for the occasional rain. What annoyed 'Ortomee even more was how this amount of rain was only considered light by human standards. The thought of an even heavier torrent discouraged the Elite greatly.

Besides it being wet, the Elite hated how when the rain fell there were often clouds of heavy fog to accompany it. The fog reduced visibility greatly, only allowing for him and his troops to see the muzzle flashes of the human weapons, while the humans themselves were protected from sight.

Ignoring the rain, 'Ortomee continued to drive down the road, following the three Ghosts in front of him, and leading the way for the troop transport traveling behind him. The humans had attempted a risky operation, but it had ultimately failed. They were now pinned down at a building, and it was a matter of time before they would be destroyed.

The humans were amusing creatures – they sought personal opportunity first rather than for their race. This information regarding a human task force in operation was previously unknown, but an informant kindly described where they were. 'Ortomee sent a small group consisting of a Wraith mortar tank, two Spectres, and about two dozen infantry to confirm on the information not long ago, and it turned out to be true. Now, it was up to him to get there with his larger force and finish the humans.

His communication device activated, and a hologram generated before the Red Elite. Much to 'Ortomee's surprise, the hologram was of 'Yuteryi, the field commander. Normally, 'Ortomee would bow in respect to his superior, but due to the rather constraining cockpit of the Wraith, he did not.

"Ouna 'Ortomee, I have reports of several of our units engaged at the street level. What is going on? Where are you bringing those vehicles?"

"Commander, I am confirmed reports of human activity, and I have sent some of our warriors to engage. I am now on route to their location to aid them against the human infidels."

'Ortomee hid the fear in his voice. Would 'Yuteryi approve of this maneuver? How much fault was there in this attack? Would it be worth their attention?

"'Ortomee, I give you my blessings to continue your offensive. Destroy the enemy, but take heed – the humans are a deceitful few. Do not allow your troops to fall victim to that."

The hologram disappeared, and the communication link ended. 'Ortomee felt better relieved inside knowing that 'Yuteryi spoke to him before the attack.

'Yuteryi was a great commander – not just due to his tenacity in combat or his tactical prowess, but because of how he cared for his soldiers. It did not matter whether the soldier in question was a lowly Grunt to even a common Elite – 'Yuteryi gave them the respect they deserved, and they too gave that to 'Yuteryi.

'Ortomee was now more confident than ever, even in spite of the horrid rain that poured above him. He was ready to meet the enemy face to face in battle.

* * *

"What do you see?"

Looking nervously back up at his friend, Kevin Pearson reported what he saw.

"I can see a tank, and lots of guys."

Kevin hated this. He and five others were told to move out and assist another team that went out earlier. They knew the location and would probably be able to get there easily, but it was currently under attack by the Covenant, and they were hitting it with heavy firepower.

They, on the other hand, were stuck behind a wall that was next to the street leading down to the arms cache with no weapons heavy enough to take the tank down, let alone enough training to fight at all. There was no roof above them, so the rain pounded upon them mercilessly. The rain was bad enough – the radio already broke down due to the rain and was now unusable.

"What do we do?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Well, we've got to get there and help them," Kevin replied. "They're getting killed out there, and we're supposed to help them."

"Screw you; I'm not going out there" another soldier replied.

Taking another look outside, Kevin watched as the tank fired yet another ball of plasma. How many men were already dead? How many more would die today? Kevin wanted to do something, but he felt there was little he was able to do, let alone sit back and watch his fellow resistance fighters get slaughtered.

"Hey, there's somebody coming!"

Kevin turned around in shock and readied his SMG. The others kept their weapons pointed down at the street, in the event there was something hostile coming at them from the rear.

Seconds passed, and Kevin was able to make out the shape of two figures running towards them. As he focused, he realized they weren't Covenant. One of them was a familiar soldier, some guy from command, Foley, if Kevin was correct, but the other…

"What the-? Hey, it's the Chief!"

As they got closer, Kevin instantly recognized the trademark MJOLNIR battle armour the Spartan was wearing. Kevin thought he was dreaming, but as the giant super soldier got closer, close enough for Kevin to notice the numerous dents and scars, a testament to the years of endless war the Master Chief had seen and fought, he realized this was far too close to reality than he could possibly imagine.

"How did you find us?" one of the soldiers asked.

"The Chief spotted you guys on his thermal" Foley replied, noting how the Master Chief's various integrated vision modes were able to do so.

"How does it look?" the Master Chief asked, his voice cold and monotonous.

Kevin explained the situation as best he could, in particular, how screwed they were if they were to attack. The Master Chief nodded, and thought about the situation.

"Foley, is there a building overlooking the arms cache?" he asked.

Foley pulled out his map, reviewed it, and nodded, pointing towards a series of buildings down the street and past the wall they were currently hiding behind.

"Good. We're going to get into those buildings, get to the roof, and attack the Covenant forces from above."

The Master Chief peered around the corner and waved the others to follow him. They quickly ran down the street, keeping as close to the wall as possible to avoid detection. The sounds of plasma fire was getting louder as they moved, meaning they were getting closer to the fight. After finding a door, the Master Chief quietly kicked it open, and they piled inside.

The Spartan did not stop. He found the stairwell and led them all the way up, until they got to the roof. There, the Master Chief crept to the edge and peered over. The other did so, careful to stay as low as possible.

Kevin gulped as he spotted a Wraith, two Spectres, each alongside the Wraith, and a lot of Grunts and Jackals, as well as a few Elites, all of them taking cover near the Spectres. They poured fire on a small, nondescript two story building where the first team was pinned down at. The front of the building was blown out by the Wraith, revealing both stories of the structure. There was minimum cover now for the people inside.

The Master Chief looked over the area, and seemed to have worked out a plan in almost record time. He started by taking off the six grenades he had strapped to his armour and gave all but one of them to Foley.

"Foley, ready the grenades. This is how it will work - I will drop down and take the tank out. As soon as I'm done, throw the grenades close to the two Spectres. After that, open fire on any Covnant troops still standing."

"Wait, you're going to take the _tank_ out?" one of the soldiers asked, in shock.

"Let the Chief do his job," Foley replied. "I'm sure he's already taken stuff like that out a number of times before."

Foley handed out one grenade for each soldier and told them which Spectre to throw them at. As soon as they were done, the Master Chief carefully leapt over the edge and landed behind the Wraith. The Master Chief then ran beside the tank, hopped and and began punching at the top hatch of the Wraith.

The Spartan then tore it off, primed the one grenade he had, dropped it in, and hopped off. Six seconds later, the grenade went off, and the tank died down. All of this had happened so fast the Covenant soldiers on the ground had barely noticed it.

"Now!" Foley barked.

Kevin pulled the pin off his grenade and tossed it at the Spectre. The others followed suit, priming and throwing their grenades at the targets. To his amazement, the small explosive landed right inside the driver's seat. Seconds later, there was a frightening roar as the grenades went off, destroying the vehicles, and killing several of the Covenant troops on the ground.

The others then lifted their weapons and fired down at the still surviving Covenant soldiers. Kevin froze, and after that, shouldered his SMG and opened fire.

Where they going to win this? For the moment, it actually appeared as if they were.

* * *

The Master Chief waited until the fire died down before he made his next move. Keeping his Battle Rifle ready, the Spartan checked the area for any remaining Covenant, but had found none. The grenades did their job, and the firing that followed after cleaned up the rest.

Positive that it was all clear, the Master Chief walked towards the building. As he approached, the soldiers inside looked on in disbelief. It was hard to tell whether it was because they were no longer in their once bleak fight, or whether they were saved by the Master Chief.

Of the soldiers who stood up, one of them was Elias.

"Over here Chief!" he yelled, signaling for the Spartan.

"What's the situation Elias?" the Master Chief asked as he ran towards him.

"Out of the original twenty guys, eleven are dead," Elias said sadly. "We've got the vault cracked open though."

"Show me."

Elias led the Master Chief into the back of the building and down a flight of stairs into the basement. There, the Master Chief caught sight of an entrance carved into the floor, with the solid vault like doors open. Soldiers walked to and from it, carrying lots of weapons with them.

Crates loaded with various ammunition types, weapons, and explosives were stacked around in the basement. The sheer number of weapons would easily bolster the armoury back at base.

"How much of the cache is emptied out?" the Master Chief asked.

"Nearly all of it," Elias replied. "Our only problem now is how do we bring it all back? There's a lot of it, and I don't think we have enough men to carry it all."

The Master Chief tried to think about how it could be done, but he was interrupted by the sounds of quick footsteps and yelling.

"Chief! Elias! We've got trouble!"

A soldier burst into the room frantically screaming.

"What's wrong?" Elias asked.

"We're seeing another Wraith incoming, along with some Ghosts and a Shadow with a full load of troops!"

"Crap" Elias responded.

"Can't we use the stuff we found here? We can take 'em out easily" the soldier said.

The Master Chief disagreed. The weapons here needed to be saved until later. This meant that the incoming Covenant force needed to be neutralized without using any of the weapons or ammunition from the caches. He tried to think of all the possible alternatives, and any methods of improvising. He thought back to the remaining grenades Foley and the others still had. Would they be much use? Would they be able to use anything else?

His mind then thought back to the damaged Wraith tank from earlier. The vehicle itself can't be used, but it weighed around 45 tons. Could it be used somehow?

The Master Chief then worked out a plan.

"Elias, get all the ammunition upstairs and get it ready to move."

"Right, Chief. What are you planning?"

The Master Chief did not reply, instead, choosing to run back upstairs and back to the street. He searched the bodies of the dead Covenant for plasma grenades, and found five. It would be good enough. He then approached the Wraith. It was be a pivotal part of his plan.

"Foley, how many grenades do you still have?"

"Six, why?"

"We'll need them."

* * *

'Ortomee slowly drove down the street, keeping his tank in a steady path. He had given up trying to contact the forces at the position. Were they wiped out? That was impossible though. He had to tread carefully here.

Slowly, the group continued down the street towards the building the human forces were pinned down in. The Ghosts led the way, scouting ahead at a slightly faster speed. It was several minutes before they got close enough to pick out the details of a previous battle, hidden away in the fog.

'Ortomee cursed as he caught sight of a damaged Wraith and Spectres. The humans had somehow fought and won against them. Were they already gone now? Did they already retreat? They continued to move in closer to check it out. While they did, he sent an order for the troops inside the transport behind him to dismount and be ready to move.

The closer 'Ortomee got the more detail he was able to pick out, particularly on the wreaked Wraith. It was flipped so it was standing vertical against the side of a building. It was a curious thing. Why it was even positioned like that left 'Ortomee confused.

Suddenly, a bright glow appeared and stuck itself onto one of the Ghosts, and then it happened again, attaching to the other. Seconds later, the Ghosts exploded, parts of the vehicles as well as the pilot scattered around the street. Something then leapt onto the last Ghost, kicking off the pilot and commandeering the vehicle. There was then a burst of plasma as the hijacker opened fire and killed the previous pilot. The commandeered Ghost turned it attention to the Wraith, firing a long burst of plasma in its direction.

The humans were still here after all. 'Ortomee activated the mortar and sent a ball of plasma down the street, trying to aim for the Ghost, but it slipped away, obscured by the fog.

Cursing again, 'Ortomee drove down the street further to get a better view, and to hunt down the Ghost. Curse the fog – it hid the enemy too well.

There was then a brilliant explosion, right next to 'Ortomee. Looking beside him, he then realized he was right next to the damaged Wraith. A cloud of smoke drifted up from the cockpit, as though some type of explosive ordinance, and lots of it, went off inside.

'Ortomee then realized in horror that the Wraith was tipping over, directly over top of him. He tried to get out of there, but the damaged Wraith fell too quick and pinned him down. Swearing as he hit the controls, 'Ortomee realized now that he was trapped – an immobile target ripe for the picking.

There was noise from behind – gunfire. The troops behind him were under fire and they could do nothing against the hidden humans. Curse them.

From beyond the fog, he saw three glowing orbs tossed in his direction in a single continuous stream. The grenades fused to the surface of his tank and detonated, throwing the Elite around in the cockpit. He was of no use being trapped inside.

Keying for the hatch to open, 'Ortomee climbed out and readied his plasma rifle. Taking a look around, 'Ortomee saw nothing beyond the fog. The rain had died down considerably, reduced to nothing but scattered drops of water.

Hopping off, he surveyed the street, trying to pick out where the attacker was. He fired a random shot, hoping it would hit something. The sounds of gunfire and dying were behind him, and his worst fear was confirmed – he had fallen into the enemy's trap.

But he was one warrior the humans would not kill as easily.

A burst of projectiles then struck his shields. Turning around, 'Ortomee spotted the human soldier running towards him while spraying with an automatic weapon. He laughed at the foolishness of the human – running from his cover, firing while on the move, and trying to charge straight at a fully shielded Sangheili while doing so.

'Ortomee swung his plasma rifle and caught the human in the face, knocking him aside like a rag doll. As the human staggered, 'Ortomee struck again at the human's chest, forcing him to the ground. Kicking aside the human's fallen weapon, 'Ortomee readied his plasma rifle, staring back into the human's pained eyes.

Suddenly, several rounds struck him. He was under fire! Leaping away, 'Ortomee squeezed off several shots, but he was sure he wasn't able to hit anything. His enemy, however, continued to hammer him with shots until it unexpectedly stopped. It was lucky for 'Ortomee, as his shields were now disabled, and was an easy target. Looking around, the Elite then saw the figure of his attack.

It was huge, perhaps the same size as he was. Unlike the humans 'Ortomee had fought and killed with relative ease in the past, this one was covered head to toe beneath a bulky suit of armour.

It was the Demon!

'Ortomee did the most basic thing possible – he raised his plasma rifle and opened fire. The shots were in vain, as they were only absorbed by the Demon's shield. The Demon charged at him, so quickly that it was right where 'Ortomee was in less than a second.

The Demon's fist connected with the side of 'Ortomee's jaw. At that instant, the Elite felt his mandibles snap and his teeth shatter. He fell to the ground, and was not able to move.

Standing over him, the Demon aimed his rifle down at 'Ortomee's head. 'Ortomee, amidst the pain and humiliation of being defeated, did not notice the weapon, but rather the sky above him. It was previously cloudy, but was clearing up now, revealing the blue sky behind it.

The clearing blue sky was the last thing Ouna 'Ortomee, a Red Veteran Elite, had seen before the Demon fired his weapon.

* * *

The Master Chief did not keep his eyes on the corpse of the Elite for long. He immediately moved on finishing off the last few Covenant soldiers on the street.

He was thankful that his plan came together and worked so quickly. He had Foley and the other soldiers take five of their grenades and stash them inside the Wraith's cockpit, right after the Master Chief flipped it vertically, setting it close to the wall of the building to one side of the Covenant tank, so it would create some type of partial closed lid, with enough space for the last grenade to be tossed in when needed.

When the Ghosts came first, the Spartan hid away within the fog, and took two of them out with carefully thrown plasma grenades, and hijacked the last one to lure the second Wraith in closer. As soon as it got close enough, Foley primed and tossed in the last grenade, igniting the other five and pushing the tank off from the wall and down onto the Wraith. It pinned it down, and prevented the driver from being able to move or use the tank's plasma mortar. It was then a simple matter of flushing the driver out with the remaining plasma grenades.

After that, the soldiers finished off the rest of the Covenant troops coming in from behind the Wraith.

"Are you alright?" he asked, helping the soldier the Red Elite was moments from executing up from the ground.

"I-I'm fine, sir" the soldier replied. His face was bruised, and he coughed out blood. He was just a kid, but even the Master Chief had to commend him for being brave enough to charge against an Elite.

The Master Chief looked over the corpses, making sure there wasn't any Covenant still alive. After making sure they were all dead, the Master Chief slung his Battle Rifle over his shoulder and pushed away the Wraiths to clear the street.

Elias, as well as everybody else watched on in amazement as the Master Chief did his task with such ease. The various biological augmentations and the MJOLNIR combat armour aided the Spartan greatly.

"Elias, do you have all the weapons and ammunition ready?" the Master Chief asked, after he finished moving the Covenant vehicles away.

"Yeah," Elias replied, his face filled with shock, awe, and surprise as he surveyed what the Master Chief had done – taken down two tanks and helped take down a whole lot of Covenant.

"Let's start moving the ammo."

The Master Chief then nodded towards the Shadow, lying motionless in the street. Elias looked from that to the Spartan and back, again with surprise.

"Chief, you're a lifesaver."

Within minutes, the remaining soldiers moved the crates of munitions onto the Shadow. After it was fully loaded, everybody got in. The soldiers also brought with them the eleven bodies of their fallen comrades. They wanted to bring them back for a proper burial.

"Alright, we've got everything. We can go now, Chief."

The Master Chief, taking a seat in the Shadow's driver seat, activated the vehicle. The Shadow lifted off from the ground and slowly moved forward. The Master Chief brought the vehicle as close back to the tunnel entrance and from there, dismounted and helped the troops unload the munitions and bring them down into the tunnel.

When that was finished, the Master Chief kept the Shadow activated and jammed the controls so that it would keep traveling in a single direction. The Shadow would end up somewhere else, so the Covenant would not be able to figure out where it had stopped off at.

Satisfied with his work, the Master Chief entered into the tunnel last. Down below, the soldiers now had to carry the munitions back to base.

"It's too bad we couldn't fit that Shadow into here" one of the soldiers joked as he and another three tried to push along a crate of ammunition.

"Look on the bright side – it's like working out, which is what you kids need to be doing a bit more of!" Foley yelled, chuckling afterwards as he struggled to carry a small crate of rifles, as well as a few dozen grenades.

The Master Chief helped, carrying a large number of weapons with him. As he walked alongside the various soldiers, one of them looked up at the Spartan. It was the same kid he had saved from before.

"Hey, Chief? Thanks."

"No problem."

The other soldiers muttered their thanks as the Spartan walked by. The looks on their faces, a combination of relieved and thankful, weren't feigned – they meant it. His work had saved them today, and they were grateful for it.

Grateful enough to forgive what they thought he had done thirty-five years ago, and trust him.

* * *

End Note: This chapter was a new one made as in-between material to demonstrate a method of which the Chief gains the trust of the soldiers. As I might have said in an earlier chapter note, he's hated by the soldiers in the beginning, but he gradually earns their trust, and this chapter is meant to show that. He pretty much goes out, saves them, pulls off a MacGuyver (even I, myself, was impressed with the 'creative' use of frag grenades, although I think it's pushing it a bit), and saves a few soldiers. This chapter was also written as a bit of a warm-up for writing action again, since I took a break from doing so during the last few chapters. 

At the same time, for the next few, since they start going into a fair bit of action. But hey, action's good, right?


	7. Waging War

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 6: Waging War

It was only mere hours after midday in the city. The human civilians continued yet another day in their miserable lives under the Covenant watch, while the Covenant soldiers continued with their miserable task of watching the humans.

The vehicles hummed as they hovered above the ground, and the Elites grumbled as they went about their patrols.

The day was unlike what 'Yuteryi was used to. He was used to surveying the streets and various units for their combat readiness and taking part in patrols as well. Yet today, he had another task to complete.

The Gold Elite strode along a hallway with large slanted windows to one side. He was inside the pyramid structure in the centre of the city, something the humans called an arcology. It was a multistory building that easily dwarfed the other structures in the area. The pyramid itself was split in four corners with small bridges connecting each quadrant to each other, and a central atrium existed in the centre of it.

While it was a human structure, it was used by the Covenant to house vehicles, and often as a type of headquarters. Every here and there, Covenant décor was set up inside to make it appear closer to home, and to hide the hideous human cement and metal.

At the lowest point of the atrium was the gravity lift, which connected to the flagship assault carrier of the Prophet of Regret, the _Eternal Reverence_.

Passing by the guard keeping watch over the gravity lift, 'Yuteryi lifted into the air towards the ship. In the distance the battle cruiser, the _Strength and Faith_, hovered over its newly established position not far from the arcology. The majority of the Covenant forces were stationed near the arcology, making it the central point of power in the human city. In order to keep enough soldiers spread out, another ship was required to establish another point of power.

It was one of 'Yuteryi's ideas on how to keep the soldiers better spread out. But following an incident from three days ago, there was still something else needed.

When 'Yuteryi entered the ship, he proceeded along towards the Prophet's chambers. He came towards the entrance, which was flanked by Honour Guards. Passing the usual security tests, 'Yuteryi entered.

Inside, the Prophet of Regret waited, floating above the ground in his chair. The Prophet's chambers was filled with Honour Guards, all tasked with the duty of protecting the members of the Covenant leadership. Walking by them, 'Yuteryi came within a distance of the Prophet and knelt.

"You may rise, Nosla 'Yuteryi. What is it you have wished to seek guidance upon?"

'Yuteryi rose to his feet, and began to explain.

"Noble Prophet of Regret, as you may have heard, three days ago, a sizable unit of infantry and vehicles, being led by one of our veterans, Ouna 'Ortomee, was wiped out by a human task force. He had confirmed the humans' location based off of a tip from an informant and moved in.

"My investigation into the causes for the destruction of 'Ortomee's unit concluded they were wiped out with combined weapons fire as well as explosives, some from higher vantage points, and we have recovered signs from one of the tanks that the cockpit was opened by force.

"The Demon is working with the humans now, and as such, I require more troops, as well as authorization to wield heavier firepower. Only then can this resistance be taken down safely and quickly."

The Prophet of Regret raised his hand, a symbol for disagreement, and shook his head.

"Commander, the Hierarchs have clearly stated that nothing, other than the standard ground forces we have made available to you, shall be used against the humans. You have already asked for another ship to remain over the city and establish a defensive position, and your previous request for addition troops has already been granted. You have more than enough infantry to complete your task."

'Yuteryi was disappointed, but he hid it well. It made sense that the Prophet of Regret had not granted him more troops – 'Yuteryi had asked twice now for more troops, and one was granted, and the other resulted in another ship. It appeared as though that were enough.

"Holy One, I ask for more soldiers because of the Demon," 'Yuteryi continued, hoping to sway the Prophet's view. "His presence will be of hope for the humans, raising their morale and urging them to fight on. If this is so, the humans will fight with more tenacity and more will join their ranks. If we are to combat this, I require either more troops or possible air support in the form of bombers. We need to be willing to destroy parts of their city to root the human resistance fighters out of hiding."

The Prophet of Regret looked down at the Elite with a disapproving glance. 'Yuteryi felt his eyes burn at him.

"Commander, are you aware of how much incompetence you are displaying? You are displaying incompetence for both your duty as Commander, and to the success of the Covenant" the Prophet explained.

Incompetence? 'Yuteryi was unsure of how asking for more troops and weaponry was incompetence.

"There shall be no bombing runs over the human city, and your forces shall only comprise of infantry and ground vehicles. Unless you agree otherwise, that is all you shall receive. If you cannot use your forces, you should rather step down from your position and allow another more willing to take your place than ask for more."

"I apologize, Noble Prophet of Regret. I shall make best with my current troops."

'Yuteryi was quick to apologize – he didn't need the wrath of the Prophet upon him. But, it did not make sense why their firepower had to be limited.

"You shall leave now Commander. Return to your duties where you are needed."

'Yuteryi bowed and left the Prophet's chambers. Inside, he was shaken up – he was loyal to the Prophets and the Covenant, and to be accused of incompetence was nerve racking.

But inside, 'Yuteryi continued to wonder why – why is the Prophet not allowing him to use heavier firepower? What made the humans and their city so special it was worth protecting? They had already destroyed most of their planet and population before – why did they have to stop and simply police the rest?

'Yuteryi had no time to think about it when he heard the alarms sound. There was an attack in the city. 'Yuteryi immediately got off the ship and into the arcology and confirmed where the attacks were taking place.

The humans were systematically launching attacks on separate targets in the area – mainly vehicle hangars. They were after the vehicles. If the humans could destroy the Covenant armoured support, there would be less of it to stop them in their street war.

'Yuteryi picked up and charged his plasma rifle and gathered a squad, mixed with Grunts and Jackals, as well as a pair of Elites. Checking the maps, 'Yuteryi found the closest vehicle hangar and rounded his squad up on a Shadow troop transport. Within moments, they were off with several others following.

Looking out, 'Yuteryi could see at least four or five more Shadows behind him and several more in front. Overhead, Phantom dropships flew, carrying full loads of infantry in their holds. The number of troops that could be deployed in the city was a testament to their military prowess and their superiority against the humans.

As they drove along, getting gradually farther and farther from the arcology, 'Yuteryi thought he was hearing noises. They sounded peculiar – like a vehicle, not but any that he was familiar with. He then heard gunfire – not the slow but sharp bursts from the human rifles, or the chatter of their automatic weapons, but some both _loud_ and _fast_, meaning it was able to spew plenty of large human projectiles in a matter of seconds.

Suddenly it appeared in front of the line of transports, making a sharp turn around a corner. It's ugly, grotesque appearance and the fact that it used wheels for its movement instantly gave it off for a human vehicle. However, this vehicle had a very big, three barrel weapon in the back.

'Yuteryi yelled and order for the troops in the Shadow to get down, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the weapon firing, spiting out a rapid hail of bullets, peppering each Shadow after another as it continued down the road opposite the column of Shadows.

The human vehicle drove by, but another appeared right behind it, doing the same maneuver and peppering the column with more fire. 'Yuteryi fired back, but the human vehicle was too fast for his shots to hit. The turrets on the Shadow opened fire, but it was of no success against them.

'Yuteryi looked around at other occupants of the Shadow. Everybody was dead. Only he remained. His shield had barely held out against the barrage of bullets.

Part of him was met with shock – the humans had vehicles now? The situation now had a unique twist. The humans needed to be met with a different type of force now – it now meant war.

* * *

"We're coming up on the depot! Get ready!" Elias yelled from the side seat of the Warthog.

While the Warthog was designed to only carry a driver, passenger, and gunner, three more sat inside around the turret and waited, readying their weapons for when they'd face the Covenant.

The Master Chief eased his thumbs on the LAAG's firing levers. The M41 light anti-aircraft gun was a three barreled, electrical powered chain gun, firing at least five hundred rounds of 12.7x99mm armour piercing bullets per minute. They were primarily mounted on Warthogs, and they were a valuable asset back during the war.

Today, they were a blessing.

While Fist-Alpha recovered munitions three days ago, the other forces in the city recovered many different kinds of equipment, and one had found a garage of probably a dozen Warthogs, as well as enough fuel and ammunition for them. After considering them into various plans, they would now play a role in fighting the Covenant on the street.

Pairs of Warthogs would travel together and complete certain tasks – two pairs were sent to harass Covenant troop columns and drive around the city doing so. The others would be used to move soldiers around to their designated targets and later aid them where needed.

The Master Chief helped Hawkins and the other members of command to coordinate this operation, which was the largest yet.

Their targets were vehicle storage depots. If taken out, human forces would be able to move around the street more freely for operations without having to worry about the potential Wraiths the Covenant might send.

The Master Chief was able to make out the shape of the large three story, dome-like structure that was their target. They needed to take out the defenses around it, get inside and plant explosives at key points in the structure to level it and crush the vehicles inside.

The Warthog's driver, a soldier named Flynn, drove closer and closer to the vehicle depot with increasing speed. He was an okay shot with an SMG, but was the closest thing to a professional driver amongst the soldiers.

The Warthog then came under fire from plasma turrets stationed around the depot. Taking aim, the Spartan jammed his thumbs down on the firing levers, filling the area with lead. The smoking brass cartridges ejected violently from the weapon and the sheer amount of bullets simply tore the turrets and their users up into bloody shreds. The Warthog behind him joined in and helped clear the defenses.

"God damn! Watch where the brass is coming out of, Chief! The stuff burns like a son of a gun!" one of the soldiers complained as he picked the burning cartridges out from his shirt, with the other two laughing at him.

"Phantom, to the right!" Elias yelled, firing his Battle Rifle in that direction.

The Master Chief acknowledged it, and shifted the LAAG to that direction. While Elias had yet to catch onto saying proper military terminology, he was at least right about the direction. A Phantom slowly drifted in, its turrets spewing plasma towards the Warthog. The driver was smart enough to dodge it and drive in a zigzagging pattern to confuse the turrets.

The other Warthog opened fire and hammered at the dropship.

While they did so, the Master Chief opened fire as well. The LAAG wouldn't be able to damage the Phantom directly, so he could at least scare it by shooting off its turrets. That way, it would force the pilot to bug out.

Jamming down the levers yet again, the Spartan watched as the bullets slowly impacted and tore up the first turret. He continued the stream of fire until all the turrets were no longer functioning. The Phantom's pilot turned away and flew off, leaving the Warthogs alone.

"Get us to the entrance!" the Master Chief barked at the driver.

The Warthog shifted its direction and drove for the entrance to the depot. Stopping on front of the building, the Master Chief dismounted and picked up his gear. He still carried his Battle Rifle, an SMG, and a satchel filled with C-12 shaped charges. Reaching for the flattened plate of explosive compound, the Master Chief tore bits of it off and gave to the three soldiers and ordered them to follow him.

"Elias, Flynn, hold the Warthog until we get back."

They nodded, and the Master Chief and this team went on. The sounds of gunfire continued as the other Warthog drove around the depot harassing the Covenant crews nearby.

Opening the door into the depot, the Master Chief went in first, keeping his Battle Rifle ready. Inside the dome-like depot, vehicles ranging from the Warthog equivalent Spectres to the lumbering Wraiths, sat motionless on two levels, with a central elevator in the middle. The vehicle crews probably never had a chance to get to their vehicles, seeing how the other team circled around and prevented them from getting to their vehicles. The only Covenant personnel inside were groups of Engineers and Grunts, probably there to maintain the vehicles.

With quick bursts of fire, the team brought the Grunts down and began their work. The interior of the depot was supported by a skeleton that kept the entire structure standing. If taken down, the structure would fall on itself perfectly.

They split up and began planting their explosive at the key structural points. With the amount of C-12 they were working with, it would be enough to bring the whole building down. It was finished with relative ease, and they were back outside within minutes.

"How much time is on the detonators?" Flynn asked, trying to figure out how much time he had to get out.

"Two minutes. Let's move" the Master Chief replied, getting back into the Warthog with the others.

Flynn hit the gas and they drove off. The Spartan signaled for the other Warthog and they followed along. As they drove away, the C-12 detonated, and the depot fell apart. The vehicles inside would be worthless, and the area itself couldn't be used by the Covenant until it was cleaned up, which gave the resistance at least three weeks of respite from mass Covenant armour.

"Chief, we're picking up reports from another group that they're having trouble taking their depot down. They're not far from here. I think we need to give 'em a hand" Elias reported, listening to his radio.

"Alright. Give the direction to Flynn and we'll head there" the Master Chief said.

The Warthog then changed its direction for the other depot. In the distance, gunfire could be heard as human and Covenant forces collided. It was utter chaos for the Covenant.

* * *

'Yuteryi was lucky he had gotten off the Shadow before yet another rocket struck it, finishing off the already damaged transport for good. It was hit by practically everything while moving towards the storage facility, and the majority of the soldiers being transported were killed on the way.

Luckily, he was already there and only had to run a short distance before he was behind the hastily erected defenses around the facility. Anything from bits of the Covenant computer uplink crates to deployable shields were set up, as well as a number of plasma turrets. The defenses were up before the humans in their vehicles came, and were unable to penetrate. Slowly, more human infantry began to pour in, setting up their defensive lines and opening fire along the Covenant positions.

'Yuteryi swore as a bullet struck the side of his head, only to be blocked by his shields. The Elite still felt the force of the impact in his skull. Crouching and waiting until his shields recovered, 'Yuteryi tried to find a weakness in the human lines.

"You - use your rifle to pick off as many of the humans as possible!" he shouted at a Jackal with a beam rifle. The Jackal agreed and did so, firing and taking down a pair of human soldiers.

Suddenly, a well aimed bullet struck the Jackal in the head, spraying its blood and brains against the wall behind him.

Taking the rifle from the hands of the dead Jackal, 'Yuteryi peeked out and took a shot. The concentrated beam of charged particles struck a human soldier in the chest, putting the soldier down for good. He tried again, but watched as the soldier was able to duck in time behind cover. They were getting smarter now, able to use cover more efficiently.

Standing up, the Elite aimed and continued to fire. He then noticed two more human vehicles pulling up alongside the human lines. He froze as he caught sight of one of the humans.

It was the one in the special armour, the same one that has brought humiliation to the Covenant, the same human that has killed hundreds, even thousands of Covenant soldiers.

The Demon was here.

'Yuteryi watched as it dismounted from the vehicle and began to open fire with its rifle. Numerous Grunts and Jackals down the line fell to its amazing marksmanship. 'Yuteryi tried to take a shot, but the Demon moved to and from cover too fast. It was nearly impossible to take a good shot. He squeezed off one, but it missed.

The Demon looked his way, and 'Yuteryi felt his eyes on him. The Demon then opened fire on 'Yuteryi, striking at his shields several times and bringing them dangerously close to failing.

Overhead, 'Yuteryi heard a familiar sound – a Phantom dropship. The dropship hovered for a second, letting its turrets fire at the humans while it unloaded its cargo – more reinforcements. The reinforcements gathered on the line and solidified the position, bringing with them plasma turrets and heavier weapons.

The Phantom remained and sprayed fire upon the humans, but 'Yuteryi watched as they shouldered their heavy weapons, the rocket launchers, and let loose a flurry of rockets towards the Phantom. The air boiled and thickened as the rockets impacted the Phantom, destroying its set of turrets and forcing the pilot to pull out.

Curse the humans and their weapons.

Suddenly, 'Yuteryi noticed that the humans with their rocket launchers changed their target. They let loose only two or three rockets towards the line. 'Yuteryi tried to get out of the way, but as soon as the first rocket hit, the force of the explosion sent the Elite flying.

He hit the ground hard. 'Yuteryi tried to get back up, but he felt too tired to do so. His shields were disabled now. Spitting blood down at the ground, 'Yuteryi tried to find his weapon, but it was thrown away during the explosion.

His eyes focused on the Covenant lines. They were now in chaos following the rocket strike. Grunts struggled to fire, but were cut down quickly. The Elites fought as best they could, but the sheer volume of fire kept them down. Out of the far corner of his right eye, 'Yuteryi noticed the Demon and the rest of the human lines. There was something peculiar about where he pointed his rifle. It was as though it was pointed…

And then something struck 'Yuteryi. The force of it sent him back to the ground. He yelled in pain, for it was the most painful experience he had ever felt. He tried to blink, but only his right eye responded. The other suddenly never appeared there, leaving a disproportionate field of vision.

He felt his face, feeling only blood and ruined flesh with his hand. The pain was unbearable. He had been shot, cut, burnt, and beaten before, but nothing was as painful as this.

Then a trio of rounds struck him in the chest, putting the Elite down for good. The noise canceled out – all 'Yuteryi could hear were the sounds of muffled gunfire and his own breathing.

A face then appeared over him – one belonging to an Elite. It examined 'Yuteryi then called over another. The two then dragged 'Yuteryi to cover and behind the vehicle facility. After what appeared to be a lengthy amount of time, they brought him out to an area with the least fighting.

A Phantom appeared over them, and its gravity lift activated, lifting the three into the Phantom. 'Yuteryi felt the motion as it jerked and flew away. Weakly, he stood up, and managed to get to the cockpit, where the pilot looked at him in shock.

"Let me speak to the fighter wings" he grumbled, trying to remain conscious. The pilot obliged.

"To any bomber units able to receive this, take off now and destroy the surrounding street around vehicle hangar twelve. Do so, now! Destroy the humans, all of them!"

'Yuteryi then collapsed. His mind drifted around from the inside of the Phantom back to the battleground.

Before he fell into unconsciousness, 'Yuteryi remembered the one who shot him, the same human that was held responsible for the deaths of many Covenant warriors.

The Demon.

* * *

"They're faltering! Hit 'em hard!"

The Covenant defensive lines were no longer able to hold. They were falling fast, and the attack had driven the Covenant insane. The Master Chief slapped a fresh clip into his Battle Rifle and then picked off a Grunt and two Jackals.

The Covenant willingness to fight appeared to have been shattered. The Master Chief wondered for a moment whether it had anything to do with him shooting that Gold Elite from earlier. Somehow, the Master Chief's shot only managed to shoot out the Elite's eye, since it was still screaming after that. The quick burst he fired after that probably finished it off.

After a moment of extended fire, the Covenant lines were broken, and the victorious human forces charged. Within moments, they swarmed inside, planted their explosives and got back out to pick up their wounded and dead, and get back to their Warthogs.

"We've got incoming! Holy shit, it's a wing of Phantoms!"

Looking up, the Master Chief spotted them as well. The half dozen Phantoms flew in fast, held together in a rigid 'Flying-V' formation.

"Get off the street! They're coming in for a bombing run!" a soldier screamed from further down the street.

The soldiers on the street ran for cover, and the Master Chief waved the others off. The Phantoms came in closer, but then strangely passed over them and flew off into the distance. All throughout the street, the resistance fighters looked up in shock and confusion. The Master Chief questioned what they were supposed to be doing, and what ultimately happened, but he didn't take any longer to question it. With the Phantoms gone, it left at least a path open for them to get away.

The Master Chief got back into the Warthog, where Elias brought him news.

"We've got a problem Chief," he said, his voice grim. "A few guys have taken down their target, but they've ran into some problems while they were getting out. They're now pinned down."

"Alright. We'll get there and help them out."

Elias gulped as he explained the next part.

"Chief, they're right next to the gravity lift of a Covenant battle cruiser."

Elias pointed in the direction of the Covenant battle cruiser that recently established a gravity lift in the city. It had yet to be fortified like the arcology and the assault carrier, but it still posed quite a threat.

"We've got to help them. Flynn, get this Warthog moving and get over there."

Flynn nodded as he hit the gas and got the Warthog moving. As they drove a long, another two Warthogs joined him.

"Chief, we're coming with you! You're gonna need some help!" the side passenger of the lead Warthog yelled.

The three Warthogs continued to drive on through the streets. Looking up at the sky, the Master Chief only noticed the battle cruiser. What was actually needed if they were going to assault its gravity lift? How many troops did it have on board?

He then wondered about the potential threat of it in the future. If it remained, it would create another foothold for the Covenant. That can't be allowed. But what could be done about it? Would he have to _destroy_ the ship in order to so that?

The Master Chief wasn't sure, but all he knew was that he had one hell of a fight ahead of him.

* * *

End Note: Ahh, this chapter. I enjoyed writing it before, and rewriting it with more dialogue and more action made it all the better. A key change I made was putting 'Yuteryi into this chapter at the start meeting with the Prophet of Regret. I'll say this now - one of the reasons I embarked on a rewriting was that I wanted to put a bit more of Halo 2 into the story, especially with the Prophets, since they now have names. In particular at the start of this chapter, I wanted to create a bit displaying the relationship between 'Yuteryi, starting as a loyal soldier, is with the Covenant and the Prophets, as well as develop some foreshadowing for future references. Also, 'Yuteryi call for the bombers is a little bit that will affect later passages.

The action has been changed a bit. I got rid of the horrid idea of power generators powering the Covenant shields and made it so the humans were targeting vehicle depots instead. I expanded on the action a bit, but the path is mostly the same as before. The real fun comes with _next_ chapter.


	8. The Hammer

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 7: The Hammer

"We're coming up on the gravity lift! Get ready!" Elias shouted to the Warthogs following.

The three Warthogs sped down the road and suddenly came to a halt. There were now right in front of the gravity lift, with the Covenant vessel hovering above them.

The lift's platform was at least three meters high, with sloping sides to easily move from the top of the platform to the street level. Stationary shield generators were set up at key positions around the lift alongside heavier material for cover, and the occasional plasma turret.

The lift itself was sheltered from behind and to the sides with taller buildings, leaving only one direction open, and in that direction, a road passed by it.

Caught in the middle of the road behind the wrecks of their Warthogs was the pinned down team. It appeared as though their vehicles were taken out by an explosive; probably a fuel rod gun due to the positioning of the Warthogs. They were now all that protected the soldiers from harm.

Dismounting, the Master Chief let another soldier take the LAAG, while he and Elias met with the soldiers. Most of them were wounded, and only two were dead – their bodies were located a slight distance from the Warthogs, possibly cut down by the turrets as they attempted to make a run for safety.

"What's your status?" the Master Chief asked the lead soldier.

"We're fine," he replied. "We've just got to get the hell out of here!"

"Alright then," Elias said. "Get to the Warthogs and mount up – we'll be heading back to base after this."

The Master Chief then stopped Elias.

"Elias, we have to take the ship down."

Elias and the team lead stared at the Master Chief in shock.

"Come again?" the team lead asked.

"If we leave the ship alone, it will only solidify its position here and establish another forward base for the Covenant, just like at the arcology. This position would be ideal for them to deploy infantry. Unless we'd want to deal a heavily defended position in the future, it would be best if we remove the ship now and prevent the Covenant from doing this."

Elias's face still wore his face of shock over the Master Chief's idea.

"Chief, with all due respect, you're right," he finally said. "But we don't have enough guys to take a ship. Besides, we have to get these guys out of here first."

"I'm going up alone," the Master Chief explained. "If I bring any soldiers up into a Covenant ship, they'll only be cut down even quicker. Just give me enough ammunition and I'll be fine on my own."

There was nothing Elias would have been able to do to change the Master Chief's mind, but the most he would be able to do was give him his Battle Rifle ammunition. Calling over another soldier, he too gave the Master Chief his ammunition. The team lead then handed forth his Battle Rifle.

"Take my weapon – you'll need it."

His Battle Rifle wasn't drastically different from the usual Battle Rifles, with the exception of the 40mm pump action grenade launcher fitted in place of the hand guard.

"I've got six 40mm frags and thirty something shotgun shells," the team lead said, handing forth the types of ammunition. "I haven't tried to the shotgun shells, but I hear those 40's can tear an Elite in half up close."

The Master Chief did not doubt that power – a shotgun shell of that size had to be stronger than the typical 8 gauge magnum.

"Thanks soldier."

The team lead gave a mock salute.

"No problem sir. Give 'em hell."

The Master Chief strapped as many clips of ammunition to his suit and dumped the rest into the satchel. He also checked the Warthog and decided to take with him the remaining C-12 as well as the frag grenades. He was now ready.

"Elias, give me some covering fire and get out as soon as I get into the lift" the Master Chief ordered.

"Got it," Elias replied, sending a soldier up to the LAAG.

"Now!"

The soldiers operating the LAAG's opened fire, forcing the Covenant defenders to get down. While they did so, the Master Chief ran up to the lift platform and cleared the area with his SMG. As soon as he finished, he got into the lift and was carried up into the loading bay of the ship.

Once inside, the Master Chief looked around. The loading bay was practically the same as that of the _Truth and Reconciliation_. It brought back some memories for the Spartan, but he quickly shook them off as he heard the sounds of footsteps.

Taking cover behind several crates, the Master Chief waited as a force of Covenant came through one of the doors and stood around the gravity lift's entrance. Daring a look, the Master Chief counted two Hunters, four Elites, and a several Grunts and Jackals. They were waiting for _him_ to get into the ship. Had the Master Chef been a few seconds late, he would have ran into this group.

He noted their formation and how intent they were on expecting an attack from the lift. This left their rear undefended. There were too many of them and not enough cover to sneak by them – and the weapons the Master Chief was carrying were not silent.

He had no choice but to fight, and when he did, he needed to be ready to fight a lot of Covenant.

Reaching for one of the 40mm grenades, the Master Chief loaded it and flipped up the sights for the grenade launcher. The grenades did not have the blast radius of the normal fragmentation grenades, but against individual armoured targets, they a more potent weapon.

The Master Chief aimed for one of the Hunters, specifically at its unprotected back. When he fired, the grenade impacted against its back, burrowing itself into the soft flesh of the Hunter before detonating. The explosion blew the Hunter's midsection apart, killing off the giant armoured alien.

The Master Chief immediately opened up with several bursts into the backside of the second Hunter, and was able to finish it off just after the others noticed the Spartan's presence. He then used the remainder of the clip to take down a Jackal and a few Grunts.

Plasma lashed out at the Master Chief, his shields and the crate protecting him from harm. Ducking behind the crate, the Master Chief reloaded and began to fire again, starting with the Elites. The three round bursts cut two of the four Elites down before the magazine went empty.

Instead of reloading, the Master Chief took out his SMG and charged at the Elites, firing as he ran. The sixty round magazine rapidly emptied out into the first Elite, taking down the shield and riddling the alien warriors chest with 5mm bullets. The Elite roared once in pain before it dropped dead to the deck.

The Master Chief then emptied out the last few bullets of his SMG into the remaining Elite, dropping its shields close to failure. He then struck the Elite with the butt of the SMG twice, the first finishing the shields and the final strike killing the Elite.

The Grunt and Jackals, seeing their superiors cut down by the Spartan, ran away in fear. The Master Chief reloaded and finished the last of them off.

After taking a brief moment to reload his Battle Rifle, the Master Chief searched the corpses of the Elites and found three plasma grenades, and decided to pick up one of their plasma rifles as well. The Battle Rifle's accurate but slow burst would be less than ideal in close quarters.

With a plasma rifle in his left hand and an SMG in his right, the Master Chief continued out of the loading bay. He needed to get to the bridge first, to disable the gravity lift and shields so that he would be able to get out of here later, as well as find a way to scuttle the ship and set it in another direction so that when it doesn't hit the city.

From the ground, the Master Chief recognized the design of the ship to be a CCS-class battle cruiser, the same class as that of the _Truth and Reconciliation_. The design of the ships had to be the same, so the bridge had to be in the same location.

Recalling the path that he had taken to the bridge in the beginning, the Master Chief retraced his steps along this ship. Along the way, the Master Chief was met with mild resistance from scattered groups of Elites with Grunts, all of which were relatively easy to deal with.

As the Master Chief moved along, however, he wasn't able to shake the feeling that he was going into this blind. For a moment, he was hoping that Cortana would give him some intel on incoming enemy movement or even break the tension with some offbeat comment, but he was then reminded of how she was no longer just a piece of programming, but an actual person now.

Remembering that, the Master Chief then realized how much he actually missed her during the course of the fighting.

Regardless, the Master Chief followed the path he knew and got closer to the bridge. Opening a door, the Master Chief walked in and was able to recognize the telltale design of the Covenant bridge – namely the raised platform with circling holographic panels, as well as the number of Grunts and Elites inside.

Raising his dual wielded SMG and plasma rifle, the Master Chief tore into Elites first, hoping the break the moral of the Grunts. The plasma rifle ate away at their shields while the SMG chipped away at it until their shields finally broke, where the 5mm bullets then tore through the Elite's chest plate.

The Spartan did so until the SMG's clip was empty, and the plasma rifle overheated. Instead of waiting or reloading, the Master Chief dropped the two weapons and pulled out his Battle Rifle. To finish off the Covenant soldiers a little easier, the Master Chief loaded a grenade and fired, watching as the explosive took out a trio of Grunts as well as an Elite. He then resumed firing and promptly killed the last of the Covenant inside.

Suddenly, the door opened, and another Elite walked in. Turning to face it, the Master Chief noticed its gold armour – it was the Shipmaster. Activating an energy sword, the Elite charged, and the Master Chief fired while backpedaling.

The Elite was too fast, however, getting close enough for it to swing its sword. The Master Chief dropped below it and avoided the blade. Standing back up, the Master Chief struck the butt end of his rifle at the Elite, the impact taking the shields down and stunning the Elite momentarily. The Spartan pulled the trigger, but realized he had expended the clip. With the Elite recovering now, he had to think fast. There was no time to reload, and the Elite was too close.

Reaching into his satchel for one of the shotgun shells, the Master Chief loaded it into the grenade launcher and fired just as the Elite raised its sword. The grenade launcher boomed as the shell left the muzzle of the weapon and hit the Elite's chest. The impact simply tore the alien warrior in half in a brilliant cloud of purple gore.

The Elite dropped to the floor, dead, while the Master Chief unloaded the empty shell and walking along towards the displays. Looking over them, the Master Chief tried to figure out which one belonged to the needed function. The translation software in his suit was only accurate to a certain degree, so the rest had to be pure luck.

The translations helped him to figure out which displays and functions was for disabling the gravity lift and the shields. As he pressed the display, diagrams opened all showing images for what he had just done. Judging from the diagrams, he had just disabled the shields and lift.

Looking around the rest of the bridge, the Master Chief then found what appeared to be the navigation controls, made evident from the various images of the city and plotting information. Tapping the holograms, the Master Chief selected a destination outside the city and plotted it, and also set the speed as well. The ship jerked, and the images displayed the change in direction.

All of that handled where the ship would end up, but as for how to bring it down, the Master Chief was still attempting to figure that out. He then remembered the coolant. The coolant is used extensively to keep the engines under a certain temperature. If he destroyed the pump, and prevented it from reaching the engines, the engines would then overheat and perhaps detonate, and then the ship would bring itself down.

Pulling up the schematics for the ship, the Master Chief found the coolant pump and uploaded its directions to his suit, as well as the directions to the fighter bay.

Satisfied with his work, the Master Chief took out the remains of his C-12 and divided it, saving a bit of it for later. He needed to prevent the Covenant from tampering with the settings. Molding it around all the various controls, the Master Chief then inserted and set the detonators for ten seconds and then got off the bridge.

After determining the proper heading, the Master Chief was on his way to the coolant pump.

* * *

A white armoured SpecOps Elite named Ioyul 'Ikorji surveyed the remains of the bridge of the _Strength and Faith_. All the displays and controls were destroyed by some type of explosive. It had now rendered all means of controlling the ship impossible.

Worse, the saboteur had locked in a set flight path and disabled the shields. Without the bridge controls, it was impossible to reset them. All around him, soldiers watched the area while the Engineers attempted to repair the damage. It was of no success, however, since the explosive used to sabotage the controls destroyed everything.

While the others grumbled in anger and self-pity over how a human was able to infiltrate and disable the ship, 'Ikorji admired how the human had done so. The human must have been able to recognize that the only method of efficiently disabling the ship would be to sabotage the controls, and that was what the human had done. Better yet, the human had fought a number of their forces while getting up to the bridge, and it was victorious against all of them.

Of course, he did not share his admiration of the human with the others.

Ioyul 'Ikorji was different from the typical Elite. While he was from a strict noble family that hated the humans as much as the Covenant allowed, he grew up recognizing them as an interesting race worthy of learning about. They were not the primitive infidels that the Covenant made them appear, but rather an adaptive and clever species that was different from anything he had yet to see. While the Covenant insisted on wiping them off the face of the galaxy, 'Ikoji wanted to offer them the hand of peace and include them into the Covenant, or at least offer them the fair and honourable fight they deserved.

He kept his views suppressed, knowing that if anybody caught on, he would be arrested and punished for heresy. Due to this, he acted along with the Covenant standards.

"'Ikorji, get over here!" one of the Elites shouted. 'Ikorji walked over and spoke with him, who sat in front of a computer uplink device that was hooked up to the rest of the ship's surveillance system.

The eight other Elites that were gathered on the bridge were part of 'Ikorji's SpecOps unit. They were a handful of some of the finest warriors in the Covenant. All of them were exceptionally well trained and skilled in all aspects of combat.

However, the self thought of them being superior to the ordinary Covenant soldier resulted in them being overeager and overconfident.

"Our surveillance system has found the human. It was the Demon who has done all this! It is moving closer to the engine rooms."

"Is the Demon trying to destroy our engines? A pitiful effort from an equally pitiful species" another Elite joked.

The Demon? 'Ikorji remembered hearing the horror stories that were passed along about a human soldier who was responsible for thousands of Covenant deaths, and was also responsible for the destruction of Halo. It made sense now that the saboteur in question was the Demon.

"I am sending all available units to the engine room," one of the Elites shouted as he sent the order. "We shall meet the Demon and slay it there. I suggest we move there too and wait for it."

The Elites then gathered their weapons and began to move. They hurried through the hallways and headed for the engine rooms.

"The others are there already! Let us hurry!" an Elite shouted.

As they all ran, 'Ikorji was thinking. Why would the Demon be heading towards the engines? Unless the Demon had a weapon powerful enough to damage the engines directly, any effort to even harm the engines was hopeless.

But was the Demon actually trying to head for the engines? That was only an assumption. If it wasn't then there must be another target of opportunity that could be used. The only other target close to the engines would have to be…

'Ikorji stopped, much to the dismay of his teammates.

"The coolant pumps. The Demon is after the coolant pumps."

The other Elites stared at 'Ikorji, puzzled with his proclamation.

"If the human is to disable the engines, the only possible method would be to disable to coolant pumps. When those are disabled, the coolant will no longer reach the engines, and after that, the temperature will result in the engines overheating and eventually detonating. The detonation of the engines would bring the ship down for sure."

A look of shock and fear swept over the Elites. It then turned into determination, and drove the Elites into a bloodthirsty frenzy.

"By the Prophets!" one of the Elites yelled in dismay. "Send an order for our units in the engine rooms to proceed to the coolant pumps!"

The order was resent, much to the frustration of the Elite sending the messages, and the group was back to running again. As they got closer, they slowed down and readied their weapons. The group carried plasma rifles and a number of grenades, and they also employed active camouflage.

'Ikorji used only the camouflage and for a weapon, he preferred an energy sword. For him, the plasma rifles and pistols were crude and not poetic enough for civilized combat. An energy sword was a simple, yet elegant and deadly weapon that required grace and knowledge to use. For the most part, 'Ikorji thought of it as a more civilized weapon for a more civilized time.

'Ikorji, however, had yet to figure out why he was laughed at and ridiculed immensely every time he mentioned it.

"Where are the other units?" 'Ikorji asked, curious to know.

"They are still on their way. It would be us hunting the Demon for quite a bit before they arrive."

'Ikorji could identify the pride in the Elite's voice when he said that. They would be the ones to finish the Demon off, without the help of the other soldiers.

The small group then came up on a hallway that split into two paths, both going opposite directions. They were at the coolant pumps. Splitting into two teams of our, they proceeded along and into the rooms.

There were two rooms that held the coolant tanks, each built side by side and connected by the entrance into them. Clear storage tanks that carried the blue-green chilled fluid stood as high as the ceiling, all built together in five rows within a roughly waist high base. The space between each row was less than that of the hallways, making it a playground almost perfect for close quarters.

This was only the storage part, however. The real part was below, where the tanks of coolant were pumped into and all around the ship, particularly to the engines. If the Demon wanted to sabotage them, he would be there. The only way down to the pumps was with the stairs located at the back of the storage room.

'Ikorji waved his team over and they proceeded carefully towards the entrance to the stairs. The storage tanks were cold to touch, and they restricted movement. If he needed to fight here, it would be difficult attempting to do so.

"Engage active camouflage" one of the Elites quietly ordered.

'Ikorji followed and did so, watching as his body disappeared before him. Cautiously, the three other members of his team approached the door with plasma rifles raised. Automatically opening, they were relieved that were wasn't anything behind it.

"It is clear. Let us continue."

One of the Elites was about to walk forward, but 'Ikorji almost instantly realized there was something wrong. Leaping forward and holding back the Elite, 'Ikorji took a closer look.

Just barely off the floor was a tripwire, possibly an optical cord, with one end connected to the wall and another to a human fragmentation grenade. Of course the Demon mined the paths. It was smart enough to do so, in order to stop soldiers like them from following him.

'Ikorji activated his energy sword and brought it close to the wire, letting the blade melt the wire and render to trap useless. Looking back up at the one who almost walked into it, 'Ikorji noted the look of relief on his face – all it needed was just one step and the grenade would have killed them all.

"Send a message to the other team to be on the lookout for more-"

There was then a dull explosion that sounded as though it came from the other side. 'Ikorji knew exactly what that sound was of - the other team had triggered a trap. 'Ikorji muttered a prayer for those who might have been lost by the trap. Did they move too fast? Were they not aware enough of their surroundings?

Whatever the reason, it now meant that they had to be careful not to fall into any of the Demon's traps. It also meant bad news for them – the Demon knew it was being pursued, and it foreshadowed their pending fight.

They proceeded down through the stairs, with 'Ikorji leading the way. By the time they made it down to the pumps level, he had found two other traps made with the human grenades. The Demon knew how to improvise extremely well.

Opening the door, they walked into the pump level which existed right below the storage rooms and fanned out, watching for where the Demon was. This room was the same as the storage room above them, with sets of machinery restricting movement and blocking vision. But the pumps also held an additional hazard – the dim lighting. The best 'Ikorji and his Elites could do was squint and barely spot the detail from the walls and machinery.

It left them at a severe disadvantage.

The squad realized this and decided to split up and take separate areas – two would patrol the pumping station and try to find any potential explosives the Demon might have planted, while 'Ikorji watched one section of the storage room, and the last doing the same with the other storage room. That way, it kept the Demon contained and allowed them all to narrow down where the Demon was at. If the Demon was found, they would all converge on where it was reported at.

As 'Ikorji got into position, he felt something was wrong. With the squad split up, it was now easier for the Demon to fight each one individually. While a team of SpecOps were strong, how would they fare against a human that has killed countless Covenant soldiers with relative ease?

'Ikorji hid away in a corner close to the door leading down to the pumps and kept his active camouflage engaged. Standing very still so that he would not be seen easily, 'Ikorji turned his communication link with the rest of his team open so he would be able to listen in on their status.

"_Check over there."_

"_I am searching! This place is so dark, I cannot see!"_

"_Wait – I found something."_

"_What is it?"_

"_Wiring. What is it-"_

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion – far too loud to be a gunshot. It had to be a grenade of some sort. 'Ikorji tried to contact the two that were down there, but he received nothing. Where they dead?

"_The Demon is down there!" _the remaining Elite watching the other storage room shouted. _"'Ikorji, let us find and kill it!"_

"No! Stop, do not move!" 'Ikorji urged, but the Elite did not comply.

The situation had taken a turn for the worse. All that was left now was just 'Ikorji and an overactive Elite that was running into certain doom.

'Ikorji then moved, not to follow the Elite going in, but to find a better position. It would soon be him against the Demon, and he was looking forward to doing battle with the human's finest warrior.

* * *

The Elite ran through the stair well, tripping but managing to quickly run through the grenade traps, passing by with his shields falling to less than half way before it emerged through the door and looked around, plasma rifle at ready. It brashly marched through, looking around for the Demon. All it found were the remains of its teammates.

Suddenly, several bursts rang out, catching the Elite in the head and upper chest. Before the Elite was able to find where the fire was coming from, its shields were already disabled and a trio of bullets pierced through its elongated helmet.

The Master Chief quickly swapped out his magazine and emerged from behind the machinery.

He had gotten down to the pumping stations and before working, took a few frag grenades and made traps out of them. Planting them at the doorways with two more in the stairways, the Master Chief did so to stall whatever Covenant patrols were after him, and to use as a warning for when they were closing in.

After the first trap was tripped, the Master Chief set another inside the pumping station, hidden by the darkness, and the two Elites that searched the area tripped that one. The fragmentation grenades helped against the Elites, but actually did very little damage to the pumps themselves.

That was where the C-12 came in. The bits that he had left would be enough for the job.

Planting the last of it, the Master Chief set five minutes on the detonators and hid them well. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the engines to overheat, so the extra margin of five minutes helped.

The Master Chief then updated the timer in his HUD and began to move. It was time to get out. There was a fighter bay with a Banshee still docked, and that was his ticket off the ship.

Running up the stairway that connected the coolant storage room to the pumps, the Master Chief got out and headed for the door, but he stopped as he heard something. Raising his Battle Rifle, the Master Chief looked around and tried to spot the target.

There was nothing.

The Master Chief was not convinced. The Elites who fell to his traps were SpecOps, and they used active camouflage extensively. There had to be at least one of them still left over, watching and waiting for the Master Chief to fall into its trap.

Keeping his rifle raised and ready, the Master Chief sidestepped slowly and checked in between each row of coolant tanks. Occasionally checking behind him, the Master Chief continued until he thought he saw something shimmer. Stopping to look, the Master Chief saw nothing.

He then fired a series of bursts at the tanks of coolant, sending globs of the thick fluid flying through the air. While most fell to the floor, some of it spilled on something, giving away the shape of a camouflaged Elite.

The Master Chief immediately fired another burst at the shape.

Before the bullets were able to hit, the target moved away. The Master Chief checked around him, but again, he found nothing. He had no time for this, but there was no way to get out of here without at least harming the camouflaged Elite.

The method of using the coolant, however, had worked quite well.

The Master Chief opened fire upon the rest of the tanks of coolant, starting at the lowest point of the storage tank and then shooting the highest. The thick super chilled liquid sprayed and gathered on the floor, while the obstructive storage tanks fell to the floor and slow streams of coolant leaked from the ceiling. It removed the closed quarters that the storage room once had, giving the Master Chief a clearer line of fire, and an ability to track the camouflaged Elite.

The Spartan then spotted the invisible Elite, with patches of coolant covering its shoulders and head. It looked in the direction of the Master Chief and ran off, trying to get out of the Master Chief's line of fire.

The Master Chief expended a clip trying to hit the invisible Elite and quickly reloaded. He looked down at the floor, covered with the coolant. He then spotted a trail of footprints printed in them. Creeping along and following them, the Master Chief kept alert.

While the storage tanks were gone, there was still the slight wall of coolant that leaked from the ceiling. It was clear, but it still ruined the Master Chief's line of sight.

Suddenly, something leapt out of the wall of coolant and pushed the Master Chief back causing him to stumble back into the next row, head over heels. Managing to recover in time, the Master Chief looked up from where he fell down at and saw the undeniable shape of an Elite beneath a layer of coolant.

Unexpectedly, the Elite deactivated its active camouflage. Judging from its armour, it was an 'Ultra,' a SpecOps Elite. They were notoriously strong and extremely well trained.

With a flick of its wrist, it activated its energy sword.

* * *

'Ikorji shivered slightly beneath the coolant that covered him. The Demon was intelligent – it had used the coolant to track him down, and had done so quite nicely.

The Demon was kneeling before him. It was a remarkable specimen – an ordinary human underneath, but reinforced and enhanced by its green bulky armour. The Demon looked up at him, but all 'Ikorji could see was his own reflection in its gold visor.

It unnerved 'Ikorji greatly – how was the Demon reacting to this? Was it frightened, unsure, or simply defiant?

Worse, was the Demon confident?

Regardless, 'Ikorji raised his sword and swung down. The Demon rolled out of the way and started to move. Why was the Demon running? Was it unable to fight? Or was it trying to gain distance between itself and 'Ikorji?

'Ikorji followed, trying to keep up. The Demon then turned and fired its rifle, some of the bullets hitting 'Ikorji's shields. Getting down and avoiding the brunt of the attack, 'Ikorji continued to move. He caught up and swung his sword laterally, but watched as the Demon ducked below it.

Then, the Demon quickly got up and struck 'Ikorji across the head with the butt of its weapon. The Demon had to be somehow machine enhanced – the strike sent 'Ikorji stumbling back, his eyes unfocused from the hit.

'Ikorji recovered quickly and resumed his chase, but the Demon was already ahead of him. Reaching into a satchel it had slung over its shoulder, the Demon pulled something out and inserted it into a device below its rifle and fired.

Suddenly, 'Ikorji's shields failed as the weapon gave off its loud report. 'Ikorji fell for a moment, his chest burning in pain with blood forming in his mouth. The Demon had a powerful weapon. Standing back up, 'Ikorji noticed the Demon reloading his weapon.

'Ikorji began to move, in spite of his protesting muscles. As he got closer, he brought his sword up to his left shoulder and right as he got near the Demon, he swung. The Demon stepped back, avoiding the blade.

'Ikorji's left hand followed the blade and speedily knocked the Demon's rifle from its hands, landing several rows down. The Demon was now unarmed.

Inside, it hurt 'Ikorji to even think about it – here was the human's finest warrior, now facing off against him unarmed. He deserved a weapon at least, something to match 'Ikorji's energy sword. Secretly, he prayed that the Demon would be able to improvise the same way it did against the rest of his team.

'Ikorji raised his sword and swung.

* * *

The Spartan was anticipating that.

He stepped to the side and crouched, the blade narrowly missing him, and his left hand shot out and grabbed the Elite's wrist. With his right arm, the Master Chief sent his shoulder into the Elite's chest, knocking the air out of the alien warrior, and followed through with sending the backside of his fist into the Elite's face.

His attack had sent the Elite reeling back. As it tried to recover, the Master Chief leapt over into the next rows and searched for his Battle Rifle. He had one shotgun shell loaded, and it would be enough to end this fight. Scrambling about, the Master Chief searched as fast as he could, and he then recognized the shape of his rifle's stock, buried in a pool of coolant.

The Master Chief reached for it and brought it up to his shoulder, his finger wrapping around the trigger for the grenade launcher. For a moment, the Elite's eyes and the Master Chief's eyes met, and the Spartan pulled the trigger.

The shotgun shell erupted from the launcher, catching the Elite in the chest. The Elite stumbled and fell on its back. Then, it slowly got back up. The Elite struggled, but was eventually able to stand, albeit uneasily.

Was it going to continue fighting? If so, this Elite had to be one of the most determined enemies the Spartan had ever fought.

But it did not, choosing instead to deactivate its energy sword. The Elite then started to speak, and a half second later, the translation in the Master Chief's helmet began. Its voice wasn't harsh or angry, but it appeared rather calm, as though honourable.

"You have fought well, human. You have bested the warriors of the Covenant in combat as you have bested me."

The Elite then tossed the hilt of its energy sword at the Master Chief. Catching it, the Master Chief briefly examined its form fitting silver design, its curves and bumps meant for the hands of an Elite.

"Consider it a gift, from one warrior to another. My time as one has ended now."

The Elite then stared at the Master Chief for a second, its expression changing. The Master Chief wasn't able to identify it, but it appeared as though the Elite was proud, not at himself, but for the Spartan.

"You are not a demon, human. You, are worthy of another title - 'The Hammer.'"

As the Elite's last words slipped out, it collapsed to the ground. The Elite was dead.

The Master Chief looked from the energy sword to the still body of the Elite. Clipping the energy sword to his belt, the Master Chief exited the room. He hurried when he realized that he had only two minutes and sixteen seconds to get out. Remembering the schematic that he had pulled up at the bridge, the Master Chief ran for the nearest fighter bay.

As he entered through a door into another hallway, the Master Chief saw several Covenant soldiers approaching. There were a lot of them – Grunts, Jackals, and plenty of Elites to command them. They stopped and stared in shock at the sight of the Master Chief running towards him.

Without thinking, the Master Chief grabbed a 40mm grenade from his satchel, loaded it, and fired, watching as the grenade landed in between them. The detonation took out roughly half the group, while the rest were thrown around the hallway.

The Master Chief opened fire with the Battle Rifle and took as many of the survivors down with the current clip. He continued to run, ignoring the others and continued through the hallways.

By the time he approached the fighter bay, the timer counted down, and the Master Chief felt the rumble as the C-12 detonated. He wasn't sure how long it would be before the engines would be affected, but he knew he had to hurry.

As he got out, he was almost immediately sprayed by plasma. The Master Chief was at the fighter bay, so close to freedom, but the Covenant were here too. Popping back out, the Master Chief fired another grenade and opened fire some more, picking off several Grunts.

The launch windows used for the dropships to exit the ship were open, but the Banshee was a floor beneath the Master Chief. Down at the other end, Covenant reinforcements numbering in the dozens poured in, with a Grunt carrying a fuel rod gun with the lead. The Master Chief had no time to fight his way down there. The engines would detonate any minute. Looking over the edge, the Master Chief spotted the Banshee and the area surrounding it.

Just as the Grunt fired the heavy weapon, the Master Chief jumped, the fuel rod missing him, and he fell, directly for the Banshee. As he fell, the Master Chief concentrated all his shields down at his feet. When he hit the floor, his shields took the brunt of the fall, draining roughly to half. From above, plasma rained upon the Spartan. Changing his shields back to their normal configuration, the Master Chief ran and got into the cockpit of the Banshee and quickly activated its controls.

The Banshee took several hits as it hovered off the ground. A fuel rod impacted next to the vehicle, throwing it aside. The Master Chief hit the boosters and flew out of the fighter bay.

Behind him, the Covenant battle cruiser's engines were glowing red from the increasing heat. The coolant was now no longer able to keep their temperatures within operable levels. Within moments, the engines detonated, blowing out superheated portions of the ship's hull. The ship then fell like a stone to the ground, twisting and crumbling as its structure failed to hold the force of the impact.

The battle cruiser, the _Strength and Faith_, was no more.

Turning the Banshee around, the Master Chief spotted the city, in particular, its arcology. He was surprised with how far he actually was from the city, but it made little difference to the Spartan.

Flying low to avoid detection, the Master Chief headed back for the city. As he flew, the Master Chief looked back at the gutted remains of the Covenant ship.

The Covenant had picked a hell of an enemy to try and destroy, and they were going to pay for that dearly.

* * *

End Note: This chapter was a personal favourite to rewrite. I had the chance to put more into this one - more action, more Master Chief kicking ass, all the good stuff. The bit about the coolant pumps is strictly hypothetical. I know there has to be a method of pumping coolant, and I developed a bit of an idea and centered the action around there.

This chapter was also fun to write because I could use 'Ikorji, the 'noble' Elite. I modified his character a minor bit, actually making him of noble heritage, assuming nobility or at least some type of higher ranked families actually exist in the Sangheili society. I expanded his personal thoughts and such (kudos for anybody who spotted the Star Wars reference - I couldn't help it), and come time for the showdown between him and the Master Chief, I put them to use as 'Ikorji's thoughts when fighting.


	9. A Soft Moment

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 8: A Soft Moment

Rations never did have any real taste.

Cortana wolfed down a small spoonful of the artificially flavoured protein ration, a near relic from the war. The Covenant was lenient enough to let the humans grow or process food for the others, which was lucky, since the rations were now. The rations included almost all sorts of foods, even processed or simulated fruits and vegetables.

Finishing the last of her rations pack, Cortana waited before she swallowed, pushing the remains of her food around her mouth, trying to discern what it was supposed to taste like. She was able to detect the taste of something that vaguely resembled spaghetti, but she also seemed to have tasted oriental rice as well. The artificial flavouring could be spotty at times.

Either that, or it was the problem with having been put into a human body – having no previous senses, she was now left to her own to develop them. It was something that a toddler was supposed to do, which secretly infuriated her because her mind was far too fast and far too complex to be simply trying to find a taste.

"How's the rations pack?" Connor asked.

"Same as ever – varying degrees of suck" Cortana replied.

Stacker chuckled as he dipped his spoon into his ration.

"It isn't too bad – you've got all the essential stuff in here, its healthy enough to keep soldiers going, and the flavour isn't all too bad," Stacker explained almost wholeheartedly. "This Swedish Meatball is pretty good."

Cortana looked at Stacker, her smile slowly turning to a laugh.

"Except, that isn't Swedish Meatball."

A look of shock began to spread across Stackers face. The old man looked from the box of rations to Cortana and again as he contemplated her words.

"So what the hell have I been eating the whole time?"

"You don't want to know" Connor stepped in, his face turning to a worried half smile.

As Stacker and Connor began talking about what the ration was supposed to be, Cortana couldn't help but admire the moment. It was times like this that she wished would happen more – Stacker being a normal person, not trying to be caught up in the affairs of the resistance, and Connor not being he harsh cynic.

As Connor told Stacker what the rations was supposed to taste like, with Stacker suddenly turning green from the mention of it, Cortana couldn't help but see them as her family.

One of the room doors then opened, and out of it walked the fully bearded former soldier, Rhineland. He looked around in curiosity, noticing the sickened Stacker and the smiling Connor.

Cortana had noticed that Rhineland changed a bit over the course of the last few days. He no longer drank, and appeared outside more often, mainly to talk to Stacker, and he was starting to generally show more character and livelihood than before.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Nothing," Stacker replied, quietly. He then offered out his box of rations.

"Rations?"

Rhineland shrugged his shoulders, picked it up and began eating.

"Can you guess the flavour?" Stacker asked, now slightly amused.

"Sure, durian flavoured mix," Rhineland said, while eating the package. "I love this stuff."

The entire living room was quiet as they watched a satisfied Rhineland chow down on the pack of rations, enjoying every bit of it.

"I hate you" Stacker said in defeat.

A moment later, as Connor cleaned up the boxes of rations, there was a knock at the door. Cortana got up and answered it. Since there wasn't a method of seeing who was outside, Cortana opened the door a slight bit and peeked around.

The person at the door was quite tall, taller than Cortana by several inches. He had a small, thin and lanky build, with a tight leather jacket on him. His bleached blond hair was cut short and most of it was hidden beneath a ridiculous cap, which left his haughty sneering grin and unwashed face in plain sight.

"Evenin' luv. How're you doin' tonight?" Jericho sneered.

"Jericho," Cortana sighed. "For the last time, I'm not going to your club and I'm not interested in going."

Among the battered remains left from after the war, there were the occasional few who found an advantage to living as opportunists under the Covenant rule – Jericho was one of them. He owned a club, the Vanilla Hopper, and enough money and resources to do whatever he pleased. Because of that, he lived higher than the majority of the human survivors and even made occasional deals with the Covenant to further his own agenda. This made him even more dangerous, and worse, he was a relentless playboy – and his eyes were firmly set on Cortana.

Jericho scoffed, lightly beating the door with the side of his hand, mainly for emphasis.

"That's always your excuse. Come on Cathy, you'll love it there. Better there than in his crappy apartment."

"Can't you understand?" Cortana said. "I am not going, and that is final, so you can stop asking me."

Cortana then tried to close the door. Suddenly, Jericho pushed back, and threw Cortana to the ground. Everybody in the living room looked on in shock as Jericho strode into the living room and picked up Cortana by the wrist.

"Let her go!" Connor yelled, his voice filled with anger.

"Or else what, kid?" Jericho sneered. "You're gonna kick my ass?"

"Let go of her," Stacker said, trying to keep his voice calm. "She said no, so the very least you can do is respect her decision."

Jericho cocked his neck towards Stacker, his sneer intensifying.

"Well, it ain't her decision now – I'm trying to give her a better life, away from his dump, so you can go and dig your own grave, gramps. Besides, maybe you can just respect my decision to give her something better than this."

Rhineland set aside his box of rations and stood up, his stance more threatening then Stacker.

"Let go of Cathy, _now_," Rhineland threatened. "Yes, I am going to beat your ass out of here if you don't."

Jericho then pulled out a pistol, aiming for Rhineland's chest. Rhineland backed off for a bit, but remained on the alert.

"Are you going to kick my ass now?" Jericho taunted. "Go back to eating your goop. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take Cathy to where she really belongs."

Cortana struggled and fought, but his grip was far too strong to break. Then, something appeared at the door. This one stood more than a full head over Jericho, and was easily larger as well, and carried a rifle and a satchel loaded with ammunition.

Jericho dropped Cortana the moment he saw the figure that was the Master Chief.

"What the-? Holy hell!"

He raised his pistol at the Master Chief, but his hands were visibly shaking.

"Don't get any closer or I'll blow your brains out you freak!"

The Master Chief then reached out and pulled the pistol from Jericho's hands, breaking his fingers in the process. As Jericho screamed in pain, Rhineland ran up to Jericho and sent a fist straight into his face, sending him into unconsciousness.

For a moment, everybody was quiet as they tried to comprehend what happened. The Master Chief broke the silence.

"Is everybody alright?"

Everybody nodded. The Maser Chief then helped Cortana to her feet.

"Thanks" she said, her voice barely a whisper.

"No problem. What do we do about him?" he asked.

"Throw him into one of the empty apartments," Stacker said. "I'll show you."

As the Master Chief carried the unconscious form of Jericho out of the apartment, Connor helped Cortana up to her feet. She massaged her wrist – Jericho's grip was quite strong. Seconds later, the Master Chief walked back in, unloading the pistol Jericho was using. Looking at clip, the Master Chief visibly shook his head.

"He was trying to scare you guys with blanks" the Spartan explained, showing the clip to the others.

Connor picked it up and scoffed, throwing it against the floor a second later.

"What kind of person does that?" Connor said in fury.

"If somebody can't fight us head on, it would be better for them if they did so by bluffing," Rhineland said, drawing back of years of experience. "In this case, he would have done so – there's no way we could have known that pistol was actually loaded, and he would have taken Cathy."

As Rhineland explained that, Connor looked away in worry, as though imagining if that actually happened. Cortana thought about what just happened – was Jericho really that stupid? In truth, he was, but to try and pluck her from her apartment to go with him, and to do so with a weapon, only loaded with blanks?

It made no sense, but for the moment, all she knew was that had the Master Chief not showed up, Jericho would have succeeded in kidnapping her.

"Well, thanks, Chief" Stacker said. Rhineland did so as well.

"How long are you staying here for?" Connor asked the Spartan, not thanking him. Connor appeared uncomfortable with the presence of the Master Chief, in spite of him helping.

"Not long, I'll be going shortly. I came in with a Banshee, landed it a few blocks away and got here on foot to check on everybody" the Master Chief replied simply.

"A Banshee?" Cortana asked. "What happened?"

Stacker stepped forward, eager to ask some questions.

"Does it have anything to do with that ship that just went down earlier?"

The Master Chief nodded.

"I was the one who took it down."

"Nice" Rhineland complimented.

Stacker said nothing, but instead stared at the Spartan in shock. Cortana tried to imagine how he had did it – taking a Covenant ship down? With the exception of a magnetic acceleration cannon, or that stunt the Master Chief had done with a Covenant bomb, there was no other way to do it, especially for just one soldier.

"How did you do that?" she asked, curious to know how.

It was only scant hours following midnight, several hours after the Master Chief had arrived.

* * *

Cortana crawled out of bed. She was unable to sleep, especially when she thought about how the Master Chief was able to have taken down the ship.

Disabling the shields, setting a new course, and then destroying the coolant pumps? It was almost as good as what she could have done, if he had put her inside the network and let her wreak havoc.

Cortana wasn't jealous, but she had to admit, she didn't consider that. In all her intellect, she wasn't able to improvise the same way the Master Chief had done so.

Her mind then slipped to the Master Chief himself. What went through his mind now? Was he still taking into consideration that it was now thirty-five years after the war he was supposed to fight? Or did he only see this as but another complication to something he would win at?

For a moment, Cortana imagined the Master Chief sitting underground in a dark tunnel, cleaning and loading his rifle as groups of ragtag resistance fighters walked by him. Cortana thought whether he wore his helmet or not – what does he look like underneath? Did he even age, after the unexplained jump between thirty-five years?

She played around with the thought, remember how handsome he appeared as the first time she looked into his career service vitae and at that picture of him receiving yet another medal – a strong, chiseled and rugged face, short brown hair, and those curious, yet sharp and intuitive brown eyes that seemed to belong to the six year old child he used to be.

It then hit Cortana – she was thinking about the Master Chief. It wasn't just mild thinking, but playful thinking.

Did she _like_ the Spartan? No, 'like' was the improper word. Cortana tried to think of the right word, but there was nothing she could think of that was in between 'like' and 'love.'

Did she _love_ the Spartan then? Cortana buried the thought quickly. It wasn't possible. But could it be?

Cortana furiously tried to drop all her thoughts about the Master Chief, but every often, the image of him kept appearing in her mind.

Outside, she heard something. Quietly opening the door, she watched the Master Chief clean out his weapons. The Spartan sat cross-legged on the floor with his Battle Rifle, cleaning off what appeared to be the remains of coolant staining the weapon before picking up and examining a plasma grenade. Clips of ammunition, as well as grenades and shotgun shells were laid out in front of him as he checked his weapons.

Cortana then spotted the handle of an energy sword amongst his weapons as well. She tried to imagine how the Master Chief was able to claim that one, but she knew that he probably had some way of doing it.

She thought about leaving her room to go and talk to him. Part of her wanted to simply talk to him. She wanted to know more about him, and perhaps even get to know him better. Her heart fluttered for a bit at the thought of it.

Looking around the room, Cortana tried to find her pants. She remembered the last time she did so, walking out in nothing but a sweater and a pair of underwear. If she were to do this now, at least she would have a degree of decency to do it with some pants on.

Another door then opened, and somebody else came out. Cortana was disappointed inside that she wouldn't be able to talk to the Master Chief tonight.

"Hey Chief. What've you got there?"

Cortana recognized the voice – it was Rhineland. What was he doing up? She watched and listened on, hoping to learn more.

"A Battle Rifle with a 40mm grenade launcher, ammunition, and an energy sword."

Rhineland whistled after the Spartan sounded off on all his equipment. He sat down somewhere near the Master Chief and picked up the energy sword.

"Are you going to activate it?" the Master Chief asked.

Rhineland set it back down and shook his head.

"Nah, I don't have a clue how it even works. How did you even get it? Last I heard, these things self extinguish when you kill the split-lip using it."

"The Elite gave it to me before it died – something having to do with being a warrior."

Rhineland chuckled as he heard that.

"No kidding? That one didn't seem too bad then. I guess some of the Covies are lightening up."

Rhineland picked up the Battle Rifle and shouldered it, looking through the scope and aiming at the wall. He then set it back down on the floor.

"It's been more than thirty years since I last used one of these things."

"You were a Helljumper, right?" the Master Chief asked. "Stacker mentioned you once were."

Rhineland nodded sadly.

"Yeah, I was. Sergeant Darryl Rhineland, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, 405th Drop Jet Division" he said, recalling his experiences from the war.

"What happened to you?" the Master Chief asked.

Rhineland was hesitant to explain, but he slowly began to say what happened. Cortana listened closely, now being able to learn about the once unknown Rhineland.

"I was in Baghdad, part of a rescue team that was supposed to cover the retreat of marines and civilians from the area. The Covenant was advancing every hour, so we had to get them out of there. My Pelican was shot down, and we fell into an area hot with recent Covenant activity.

"We lost three guys and our pilots on impact, and I broke my leg. The Covies were coming onto us fast, so we took cover inside a building. The others hid me away in a corner and told me to cover their flank while we waited for when somebody would get us.

"I covered them with my sniper rifle, but just as I was about to take out an Elite, my rifle jammed."

Cortana listened on in shock, her mouth open, as she comprehended what happened to Rhineland.

"That Elite took out my squad. It was only a few seconds later that a Warthog from the evacuation convoy came by and managed to find me."

"Was that why you sniper rifle was still jammed from before?" the Master Chief asked.

"Yeah."

Rhineland then reached into his pocket and pulled out a bullet.

"It was in my rifle's chamber for thirty-five years, and it was the sole reason why my friends died that day."

"What are you going to do with it?" the Master Chief asked.

Rhineland shrugged before putting it away.

"As a sniper, I was taught not to waste ammunition, and I'm not going to waste even this one. It may have killed my team, but I can hope that it too can do something now."

"Can you still shoot? You'd be of great assistance for the resistance."

Rhineland shook his head, but it appeared to be only partially agreeing with what he felt for the moment.

"I'm not sure. Killing Covies won't bring my friends back, and I've already lost enough. But the truth is, part of me wants to fight – I want to do something right, but I'm not sure if getting back into the fray would be it."

"If you're not going to join, I'll respect that. A war isn't a place for a soldier wounded by it. But if you do join, then I'll look forward to fighting alongside you."

"Thanks. I'll think about it."

As Rhineland got up, Cortana realized that she never knew about that, and only then began to know of just how injured Rhineland was now. Part of her wept for his loss, and the fact that he felt he had contributed to it. She also admired him, especially how he was able to give up his habit and decide that he wanted to do something with his life.

Resting against the wall, she wrapped her small arms around herself, trying to warm herself up. As the night wind crept in through the cracks and holes in the wall, she shivered as the cold air washed against her skin.

"Hey, Chief, I have a question - why did you come back here?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you come all the way back here? If it's to check up on us, you came quite a long way for almost nothing. Besides, wouldn't going straight back to base be easier and less risky to do?"

Cortana realized that it made sense. Why did the Master Chief do that? He knew the risks, but why did he decide to go ahead with it? Was there more to him coming here?

"I'm not sure, but I do have one possible answer."

"Well, come on – tell me."

Cortana listened closely as the Master Chief finally spoke after almost an eternity.

"It was her."

Cortana heart skipped a beat when she heard that.

"Cathy?" Rhineland replied, shocked.

"For the last few nights, she's been on my mind. Every time I sleep, she's there. It occurred to me when I was on the Covenant ship. I missed her, and I just felt like I needed to see her again. Its – strange, almost; I can feel something, but I'm not sure what."

Back in her room, Cortana was shocked beyond all matter. The Master Chief was thinking about her. Sinking to the floor, she smiled as a tear rolled down her face. She liked him, he liked her…it seemed too close to perfect.

"I know what it is – love," Rhineland replied. "There's nothing wrong with having feelings for anybody – it just means that you have something to fight for."

"What do you mean? I fight for humanity."

"There's a little train of thought that my Sergeant explained to me that he used so he wouldn't be stressed out with the war. Instead of thinking that he was holding the entire world on his shoulders, he thought about fighting to protect his wife instead. Saving the entire world was too much for him – but fighting to save his wife? He always said it was more manageable.

"In this case, you can fight to protect Cathy."

Cortana's heart fluttered again and again as she listened. It was unbelievable.

"Wait, I hear something."

Cortana heard the shift in his voice. He was now serious and cautious now, his mind set on his duty as a soldier.

Suddenly, he yelled.

"Get down!"

As Cortana heard that, there was a loud explosion. Her ceiling then fell onto her, fragments of wood and piles of dust covered her small body. Within moments, Cortana blacked out.

* * *

End Note: This chapter I didn't do much, but I added a bit. I put a bit more into the opening scene with the idiot Jericho. About him, I had a few good ideas for his character that I never ended up doing in the older draft. Here, I got around to it. Personally, I still never came around to using any good ideas, so at best, Jericho is just a pervert idiot out for Cortana.

Yippee...

Other changes I made were mainly the intro, introducing Rhineland into the chapter a little differently, and then having abit of an offbeat humourous moment. Oh, and about the food stuff - I don't know about anybody reading this, but personally, I **hate** durian fruit. If you don't know what it is, it's a huge fruit the same size as a watermelon that is spiky on its outer surface and when cracked opened, it hells like rotting crap and tastes even worse. I don't know if its possible to even make a durian flavoured food ration mix (I pray to god that it isn't possible), but I added it, especially after having a plate full of the fruit in my refrigerator (oh yeah, if you ever have any in your fridge and you open the door, don't breath using your nose - that stuff smells horrid...).

I kept the chapter mostly the same because it accomplished what I had wanted - I wanted to make a soft moment (hence the chapter name) where the Master Chief takes a moment to think about what he's feeling towards Cortana. I'll admit, part of me always wanted to do a Master Chief/Cortana romance. The potential relationship development for it is simply delicious and cute in its own way.


	10. On the Run

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 9: On the Run

The Master Chief looked outside the window, and instantly spotted what he had heard from earlier. A Wraith mortar tank was parked down the street, and it was firing at the building.

Did they know he was here? Was that why they came in with such firepower?

The Spartan had no time to think of why the Covenant was attacking now – he had to get everybody out and to safety.

"What's going on!" Connor demanded as he stumbled out of his room, his gaze instantly turning to anger as he spotted the Master Chief. He probably thought the Spartan had something to do with all this.

Stacker ran out of his room, also filled with shock and confusion over the noises.

"The Covenant are attacking, we've got to get out of here" the Master Chief replied.

The Master Chief rounded up his equipment and stuffed them into his satchel. He peered out the window and counted the number of Covenant troops below – there were around thirty of them outside, and possibly more on their way.

As he looked around and checked on the others, he saw Rhineland burst out from his room, his sniper rifle and clips of ammunition in his hands.

"Scratch what I said earlier about me thinking of joining," he said. "I think I'm officially in."

The Master Chief looked around the living room once more, and he instantly noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Cortana?"

Connor looked around in shock, his eyes locking to Cortana's door. He then broke it down with a kick and ran in. A second later, he came back out with Cortana in his arms. She was unconscious, dressed in the same sweater that she usually seemed to wear, and like the last time the Master Chief saw Cortana, she didn't wear any pants.

The Master Chief was reminded of the conversation he had with Rhineland just earlier.

"Is she alright?" Stacker asked, worried.

Connor checked Cortana for injuries and found none. He then lifted her over his shoulder and carried her.

"She's fine."

"Alright, let's move" the Master Chief said, motioning them to get to the door.

"Wait, where are we supposed to go?" Connor asked, questioning the Spartan.

"This area isn't safe. The resistance tunnels should offer some better protection" the Master Chief said.

"I'm not going," Connor said, firmly. "This is our home, and I'm not leaving it. If the Covenant sees us running out of here, they'd shoot us! Our best bet is to stay here."

The Master Chief looked back at Connor almost immediately after Connor finished talking.

"We've got to move, Connor" he said calmly. "The Covenant will be sending soldiers inside and they'd kill anything that may get in their way. It'll be safer if we leave the apartment and get out before they do that."

Connor then gave a long hateful stare at the Master Chief.

"Are you trying to get us involved in your stupid war? We are _not_ going to help you in any of this."

The Wraith on the street then fired and half a second later, there was another explosion that shook the floor and sent pieces of the apartment floor a level up falling down. The Wraith was firing on the side of the building, and it appeared as though it was trying to adjust its aim, which was getting closer and closer now. Rhineland ran over to the window and looked out, surveying the Covenant forces on the street.

"Connor," the Master Chief said, his voice turning from calm into a sterner and serious tone. "That Wraith is hitting the side of this building, and any of us caught in its blast would be vaporized in an instant. Either you get moving with the rest of us, or you hand Cortana over and stay all you want – don't waste our time."

"The Chief is right," Stacker said, stepping forward. "Either way, we've got to get the hell out of here!"

Rhineland then frantically got back from the window and to the door.

"We've got to hurry; I think they're adjusting their aim."

The Master Chief ran out, with Stacker, Rhineland, and Connor, carrying the still form of Cortana.

"What's the quickest way out of here?" the Master Chief asked Stacker.

"The fire exits," Stacker replied, pointing down the hallway. "I'm not sure if any of the side entrances are still open, but it's our best bet. Otherwise, we'll need to go through the lobby, which might be swarming with Covenant."

"Lead the way."

Stacker did so, running down the hallway with everybody else following. Turning around a corner and running down a hallway, Stacker found the fire exit. He tried to open the door, but the doorknob must have been jammed.

"Dammit, the door's stuck! There should be another-"

The Master Chief then punched clean through the doorknob and tore down the rest of the door. The Master Chief walked through wordlessly, while Stacker looked on in humour.

"Well, that works too I guess" he said.

The stairs within the fire exit were small and spiraled around inside, and the entire path itself was cramped. Stairwells were natural obstacles that troops met in close quarters. The combination of close quarters battle as well as higher and lower areas that require constant cover made places such as these dangerous to walk into blindly.

The Master Chief raised his rifle and proceeded along down the stairs. Luckily in this scenario, he needed to be only weary of what was in front and below him. So long as he got out fast enough, he wouldn't need to worry about the areas above him.

After traveling down the lengthy spiral of stairs, the Master Chief opened the door at the bottom of the stairwell and walked out first, checking both sides with his Battle Rifle. In the distance, he could almost make out the sounds of Covenant soldiers scurrying into the hallways.

They needed to get out of here, now.

"Stacker, where's the exit?"

"It's close by," he replied, pointing down the hallway. "It'll lead us out the side entrance and to the street."

Stacker went first, leading the Spartan and the others through the mazelike hallways of the apartment building. The Master Chief kept checking behind as they moved along, watching for any Covenant troops who might be lucky enough to get behind them.

"Alright here it is" Stacker said as he rounded a corner into a short hallway, with the exit at the rear of it.

Stacker's expression then changed from optimistic to shock. The Master Chief walked up beside him, and realized why.

The hallway was blocked.

Giant pieces of concrete and debris from the ceiling blocked off the path to the door. The Master Chief groaned in agony – they were so close. It would have been possible for him to lift some and clear the way, but how long would it take? In whatever amount of time needed, it left the others in danger.

Then, he heard the yelling of an Elite. Turning around and raising his Battle Rifle, the Master Chief waited until the alien warrior came into his sights. Before the Elite was able to raise its plasma rifle, the Master Chief fired several bursts, taking down the Elite with relative ease.

The Spartan had no time to relax – within moments of the Elite's body falling to the ground, another squad of Covenant reinforcements came through, consisting on at least three Elites with a group of Grunts.

The Master Chief opened his grenade launcher's breech and quickly pushed a grenade inside and fired. The grenade detonated in the middle of the squad, killing most of the Grunts and wounding the Elites. With their shields now weakened drastically, the Master Chief's quick bursts downed the Elites with ease.

As he swapped out his magazine, Connor gave the Spartan a harsh look.

"Are you trying to get us killed! The Covenant will be all over us soon!"

"Well, do you have a better idea Connor?" Rhineland asked, rhetorically, looking from the group of dead Covenant soldiers back to the blocked off exit. Rhineland's hands held onto his sniper rifle with a death grip. Had the Master Chief not taken down the squad quick enough, Rhineland would have fired.

The Master Chief wondered how effective Rhineland was now. The aging sniper was determined, but is he still capable of sniping?

"Is there another way out?" the Master Chief asked Stacker.

"I'm not sure – this was the closest that I know of."

The Master Chief checked his ammunition, noting that he was now running out of magazines for his Battle Rifle. Between the shotgun shells and grenades for the launcher, he still had a fair amount to put up quite a fight. He would fight if needed, but the main objective for now was to escape and evade.

Suddenly, there was a rapid flurry of footsteps from the outside, getting closer to the door that was blocked off.

"Friendly?"

The Master Chief recognized the voice – it was Foley.

"It's me Foley," the Master Chief replied. The debris blocking the doorway was slightly more open in certain section, allowing the Master Chief and Foley to at least communicate.

"Chief! You're alive? Son of a bitch, some of us thought you went down with the Covenant ship. Hey, Hawkins, get over here!"

There were more footsteps as another soldier ran up beside Foley.

"Chief, are you there?"

"I'm here. I was able to evacuate the others from the apartment as well."

"The others?" Hawkins asked, in interest. "Where's Stacker?"

Before the Master Chief was able to reply, Stacker spoke up.

"Hawkins? Is that you?"

Hawkins laughed from the other side.

"My God, Stacker, you're getting old. Is everybody alright on your end?"

Stacker looked back at the still unconscious Cortana.

"We're fine over here. Cathy's unconscious, but we're fine. Is there another way out? We'll need to get to one of your bases."

"Right. About the base," Hawkins replied, his voice changing from friendly to tense. "Chief, we've got a problem – the Covies found the tunnel."

The Master Chief froze as he heard that.

"How?"

"We're not sure, but we got the hell out of there as soon as we can and took as many of the guys and equipment out of there. We've got a lot of wounded with us right now, but a good number of boys to fight. Listen, we're sitting ducks out here – meet us on the other side of the building. We've scouted out an open exit there. Meet us there and we'll lead you guys out."

Before the Master Chief was able to reply, Foley and Hawkins were gone. The Master Chief tensed as the news of the tunnel being discovered kept echoing in his mind. How were they discovered? Hawkins, as well as the other officers made sure that every soldier going out from the tunnels to the surface used different entrances and exits each time so the Covenant wouldn't detect them. Even so, the soldiers themselves were smart enough to hide their tracks and watch themselves so they wouldn't be followed.

But what if it wasn't carelessness that led to the tunnel being discovered? What if there was a traitor amongst them that gave away the tunnel's location?

The Master Chief had no time to contemplate the possible reasons – they needed to move to the other side.

"Form up, let's go."

"Where are we going now?" Connor asked. His voice was still hostile.

"The other side," Stacker replied. "There should be a clear exit over there."

Connor's face showed little optimism, but he had no choice but to move along with the rest. Stacker led the way, leading the small group down another set of hallways, with the Master Chief close by.

The sounds of Covenant troops combing out and searching the apartment building were getting louder and clearer. There would be only scant moments before the bulk of the Covenant troops would come upon them.

The trek towards the opposite side of the building was eventless, and upon reaching the short hallway that carried onwards to the exit, the Master Chief spotted Foley. He was standing in between a doorway, offering him both cover as well as a decent hiding spot to keep a lookout for Covenant troops. As soon as Foley saw the Spartan, he waved him over and signaled for him to get into the room.

Past the doorway and into a small and windowless room was the temporary rallying point for the battered squad of Fist-Alpha soldiers. There were at least forty soldiers inside, but half being wounded and the other half tired and weary. Amongst them, the Master Chief spotted Elias, who was amongst the soldiers not wounded. His eyes brightened up when he saw the Spartan.

Hawkins came forward from amongst the soldiers. A sidearm rested in his holster, and he wore set of basic marine combat armour. Instead of a helmet, he wore a cap, similar to that of what the Sergeants many years back often wore.

"It's good to see you Chief" he said.

"Status?"

Hawkins motioned around the room as he explained the situation.

"We've got forty-six soldiers, around twenty wounded, but still able to fight, and the rest are tired, but still willing to move."

Looking around at the soldiers, the Master Chief noted their condition. They were in no position to wage a battle. Their best bet for getting to safety would be to sneak their way out of the area and into a safe zone.

"What happened?" the Master Chief asked, wanting to know how the tunnel was discovered in the first place.

"We don't know," Hawkins explained. "The Covies must have been poking around the area a bit and they must have found something. They hit our tunnel, but we were able to get out in time and out onto the streets."

"What about the other tunnels?"

"We told them to hunker down just as the Covies found us," Hawkins continued. "They're fine – it's us I'm a little more worried about. We're pinned down here, and we've only got one shot at getting to safety."

Hawkins then took out a map and pointed at a marked location far from their current position. The Master Chief spotted the words 'Vanilla Hopper' printed neatly next to it.

"We have another base at there. It's underneath a local bar, and the Covies don't care enough to check in places like that," Hawkins said. "If we can get there, we can get back to the safety of the tunnels."

It was a sound plan in the Spartan's head. However, there was still the question regarding how they were even going to get there.

"Hawkins, can you spare me a few soldiers?"

"What for?" the old veteran asked him, curiously.

"We'll distract the Covenant and force them into a fight here, and while we're fighting, you and the others can sneak out and get to the rendezvous point."

Hawkins went quiet as he thought about the plan. A split second later, his face lit up.

"Alright then, let's do this. I'll give you a shout over the radio when we're going to move."

"Affirmative."

Hawkins briefly outlined the plan to the others, and everybody began to move. Amongst the soldiers, Elias stood up and readied himself.

"I'll go with you Chief" he said, eager to stay in the fight.

"Same with me" another soldier said, as well as many others.

A brief minute later, the forces were now organized. The Master Chief was joined with Stacker, Rhineland, Elias, and more than half of the other soldiers, while Hawkins and Foley were with the rest, numbering to at least eight or ten others. The Master Chief needed enough men to hold down and distract the Covenant attackers, and Hawkins needed a small and unnoticeable group to sneak by with.

Looking at the assembled soldiers, the Master Chief picked out the still unconscious form of Cortana being carried by Connor.

"Connor, I think it might be best if you and Cortana go with Hawkins" the Spartan recommended.

Connor nodded as he lifted Cortana.

"I was planning to do that. Better to get Cathy to safety than to risk her with in your fighting" he replied, still bitter.

"Just make sure she's safe" the Master Chief urged.

A part of the Master Chief felt uneasy being separated from Cortana in the middle of a firefight. If she was with him, he would be able to guarantee her safety, but the chances of her getting caught in the crossfire were too high. But if he let her go with the others, would they be able to protect her?

Erasing that thought, the Master Chief focused on his part of the mission. He signaled for the others to form up on him, and he led them out of the hallway and into the lobby.

Peering out, the Master Chief spotted a small group of Covenant soldiers stationed in the lobby. They entered in from the main entrance and set up a trio of turrets and established defensive positions all around.

The Master Chief loaded a 40mm grenade into its launcher and signaled for Elias and the others to throw down suppressive fire. As he did, they moved into their positions, readying their rifles and keeping themselves between cover.

The brief lapse of time that the Master Chief used to teach the soldiers how to properly wage war was paying off; with enough time for them to be hardened at their skills, they would soon be a force to be reckoned with.

Elias and the others opened fire, catching the Covenant by surprise. The Master Chief took that moment to lean out and fire the loaded grenade at the nearest deployed turret. The explosive detonated and destroyed the gun, also spraying the area with small fragmentations. The Master Chief shifted his attention to the Covenant soldiers and fired several quick bursts at them.

Out of the corner of the Master Chief's eye, he spotted the receptionist's desk, located at the opposite end of the lobby, lined up with the main entrance. It would be a good spot to fire at the Covenant positions from.

"Elias, get to the desk!" the Spartan barked.

"Got it," Elias replied. "Come on, let's go!"

Elias and several others quickly ran out from the cover of the hallway and hunkered down behind the receptionist's desk. From there, they had a better vantage point to fire from. The Covenant troops in the lobby had either no hard cover to use and were cut down where they stood, or were forced to retreat out the main entrance.

"Hawkins, what your status?" the Master Chief asked, speaking through his radio.

"_We're on the move. Covie reinforcements are moving in from all around. Looks like your plan worked."_

The Master Chief was relieved. This allowed them to get out safely. As for the Covenant reinforcements, all they had to do was hold them off long enough.

"_Chief heads up! Phantoms, incoming - they're offloading Brutes!"_

The Master Chief froze, and then ordered the others to move out of the hallway and take cover either behind the receptionist's desk, the hallway opposite from the current one, or remain there and provide covering fire.

They needed to put as much fire on the Brutes as possible and take them out quickly – a MJOLNIR enhanced soldier was even with them, but several normal human soldiers would be cut down quickly by the apelike aliens.

As the soldiers moved out, the wall next to the entrance suddenly broke down, and behind the dust came the six enormously built figures of the Brutes. The snarling aliens took little time to engage, already firing grenades from their Brute Shots into the room.

One of the high velocity grenades bounced off the floor and hit the midsection of a soldier just exiting the hallway. When it detonated, the grenade simply tore the soldier in half.

As the barrage continued, the Master Chief heard the cries from several wounded or dying soldiers. The six Brutes would easily decimate the human soldiers.

Not unless a Spartan joined in.

The Master Chief opened his grenade launcher's breech and loaded in a shotgun shell. Moving out, he fired a burst at the Brutes. The individual bursts inflicted almost no damage on the Brutes, but it did get their attention, exactly as the Master Chief wanted.

"Concentrate your fire on the Brutes!" the Master Chief barked as he ran out and lead the Brutes towards the front of the apartment lobby.

As he moved, the Master Chief now focused his attention towards the closest Brute, firing several bursts at its head and upper chest. With the combined fire of his Battle Rifle and the fire from the soldiers, the first Brute, and then a second and third were cut down quickly.

As one of the Brutes got closer to him, the Master Chief opened fire with the grenade launcher, firing his previously loaded shotgun shell into its face. To his surprise, all the shell was able to do was push the Brute back a foot, staggering while it gripped its bloody and torn face, roaring in pain.

The Master Chief then fired a quick burst into the Brute's head, finishing it off for good. Only two Brutes remained now. One of them looked towards the human soldiers and decided to engage them, while the other decided to continue with the Master Chief.

The Brute that was fighting the Master Chief threw aside its Brute Shot. It was going to fight the Master Chief in melee, and that meant trouble. The apelike alien roared its challenge and then got down on its hands and feet, charging at the Spartan the same way an ape would run.

The Master Chief opened fire, but the Brute was too fast – it was already up to the Spartan now, and it sent a punch straight towards him. The punch threw the Master Chief aside, forcing him into a wall. His shields took the brunt of the strike, but the Master Chief felt the hit in his chest.

The Brute continued its attack, sending a fist towards the Spartans head. Seeing this, the Master Chief was able to duck, while the alien's fist struck and buried itself in the wall behind them.

Looking around, the Master Chief couldn't find his Battle Rifle. The force of the Brute's melee attack must have forced him to drop it. Without thinking, the Master Chief reached into his belt and pulled out whatever spare weapon he still had.

His hands wrapped around the hilt of the energy sword, and with a flick of a wrist, he activated it and swung.

The blade effortlessly cut through the Brute's chest, forcing the alien to a halt. It still screamed in agony and rage, but the Master Chief ended it by sending his blade through its head.

Near the receptionist's desk, the other Brute tumbled back, its chest and face riddled with blood and bullet wounds. One of the soldiers leaped over the desk and emptied out the rest of his magazine into the Brute's face, cheering as he did.

"Look out Chief!"

The Master Chief looked behind him and spotted a pair of Brutes just entering the lobby. They were down on their arms and legs and were charging straight for the Master Chief.

Suddenly, there was a single loud snap, and both Brutes fell to the ground. The Master Chief noted one was in front of the other as they charged. Looking back to the receptionist's desk, the Master Chief spotted the shocked faces of the soldiers, and the smoking muzzle of Rhineland's sniper rifle.

He fired only one shot.

The entire lobby was filled with bullet holes and plasma scoring, along with blood of both human and alien. Looking over to the soldiers, the Master Chief realized that the Brutes did severe damage upon them – only half were still alive, and the rest were mostly wounded.

"We've got to get out of here! They'll be sending more" one of the soldiers cried.

"What about the dead?"

"Leave 'em," Stacker said, worn out. "We'll come back and get them later. In the meantime, we'd best be getting the hell out of here."

The survivors quickly formed up and ran out of the lobby and into the street. It was dark outside, and the distant sounds indicated that more troops were inbound. They ran towards the nearest alleyway and continued to move, putting distance between them and the apartment. When they got to a temporarily safe position, the Master Chief consorted Stacker for their next move.

"That place Hawkins and the others are moving towards - the Vanilla Hopper - is a bar," he explained. "From what I know, there's a base under there and it's the only safe place for us to get to."

"Do you know where it's located?" the Master Chief asked.

Stacker nodded.

"Yeah, just follow me."

The Master Chief followed, and the other soldiers did so as well, following Stacker through the alleyways. As they moved, the Master Chief found Rhineland walking besides him.

"Thanks Rhineland."

"No problem Chief." he replied.

"I had that bullet for thirty-five years, and it cost me my team, but today, it took out two Brutes," Rhineland continued, his moral recovering. "I forgot how good it feels – to fire a shot and take somebody out. Now I remember. You've got my rifle Chief."

The Master Chief lightly patted Rhineland on the shoulder. He was a good sniper, and there would be more targets for him in the near future.

As they moved along, the Master Chief remained on the alert. The darkness gave them adequate protection, but it did not give him, or the others, an excuse to lighten up.

His mind then shifted towards Cortana. Was she alright? Did she or the others make it to the rendezvous point?

The Master Chief was hoping she was alright. But he needed to be sure, and the only way of doing that was if he, and the others, was to hurry along on their trek through the dark alleyways of the city.

* * *

End Note: I did a few things with this chapter. I first changed part of the beginning, so that instead of Stacker running with Cortana and Connor, everybody gets out, and then I began a new subplot - Fist-Alpha is also on the run. The rest goes into the next chapter, but boils down to them fighting their way out. One of the things I cut out of here was the noble Brute (oxymoron?). I was thinking about it after a reviewer talked about it, and it made sense - after 'Ikorji, another noble Covenant was a bit too much. At the same time, he was part of an old plot idea, one that I had before Halo 2 that that I was putting into the story where the Brutes were more related to the Forerunners, but ultimately they turned out to be uberstrong and stupid apes. 


	11. Betrayal

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 10: Betrayal

The world through Cortana's eyes was a blur.

Slowly, she regained consciousness and her senses recovered. Within moments, she was able to see clearer now, and the tips of her fingers felt the texture of the rough ground.

What happened? Cortana tried to organized what just happened to her – she was sitting near her door listening, and then the ceiling apparently fell on her. Or at least she thought it did. The few moments before or after the ceiling collapsed were difficult to remember.

With her sight now recovered, Cortana looked around, realizing now that she wasn't in her room, but rather sitting in the middle of a dark alleyway, with several others around her. Looking at them, she spotted weapons slung over their backs – soldiers.

What was going on? Where was she?

Cortana then heard footsteps getting closer to her. Turning to face them, she spotted a familiar face – Connor.

"Are you alright?" he asked, worry in his voice.

"I guess so," Cortana replied. "What's going on?"

"The Covenant attacked the apartment," Connor began, sitting down next to her. "I guess they figured out that the Chief was there, and they figured they'd kill everything in their path just to get him."

Connor's voice had a hidden layer of bitterness, especially when he mentioned the Master Chief. Cortana understood where his pain was coming from, and for some reason, she respected him for that. Of all the people she knew, Connor was the closest thing to that of a human capable of truly feeling, and his pain was what made him human in her eyes.

The aspects of human emotions and feeling were what interested Cortana the most. Being nothing more than a highly advanced piece of computer coding for most of her existence, her emotions were simulated, or were merely subroutines that allowed her to better connect with those who actually did.

Regardless, she listened as Connor told her everything that happened – how they escaped with him carrying her out of the apartment, how they met up with the soldiers, and the details about the Master Chief's plan and how they will meet at a safer location.

"Cortana, I have a question."

"Shoot."

"When I went into your room to get you," he began, recalling what happened. "You were buried underneath rubble, unconscious, but you were next to your door. Were you up just before the attack?"

Cortana thought about that. She tried to remember what happened but it felt that the times before and after the apparent attack on the apartment was blacked out. She tried again, but still got nothing. However, her mind then slipped towards the Master Chief, and for an odd reason she was unable to remember, she felt warmer inside. Her heart fluttered and she started to feel differently. Was it a dream? Or was that why she was next to the door? She still didn't know.

Again, the limitation of being merely human infuriated her.

"I'm not sure – I don't remember" she finally replied, her voice coming out more differently than it should have.

"Where are we now?" she then asked, changing the subject.

"In the middle of an alleyway several blocks from the apartment," Connor explained. "We're going to a safe spot that also happens to be a base for the resistance. We just stopped here for a bit."

As Connor finished, a solder walked up to them. He was old, possibly as old as Stacker, but this one appeared as more of a soldier, judging from the combat armour and SMG he carried. Looking at his face, Cortana swore there was something familiar with him, as though she had met this soldier before.

"You're up, Cortana?" he asked.

"I'm up" she replied. Cortana noted in particular how he called her by her actual name – Cortana, instead of Cathy.

"It's good to hear," he said, a smile on his face. "At least you're alright now."

"Wait," Cortana asked. "Have we met somewhere before? You look familiar."

"I guess we have," he replied. "It sounds hard to believe, but I was helping Stacker when he decided to go ahead with his plan to make you human."

The revelation hit Cortana slightly. She remembered seeing a face of some sort, one that matched his, looking over her. Was that after the humanization process? There were limitations to how much she could remember, but Cortana was able to piece together an image of a face that looked younger, but still fundamentally the same as this soldier.

"Don't worry if you can't remember me," he said. "Call me Hawkins. I was just there to hold the fort down and help watch over you for the first week or so. You were quite a sight – nice looking girl and all, but you moved and babbled like a toddler during the first week. It was only until after your muscle memory kicked in and then out of the blue was you able to walk and all."

As Hawkins mentioned that, Cortana humorously pictured her crawling around on the floor, or at least struggling to do so. She had no direct memory of it, but if what Hawkins was saying is true, then she must have been a sight to see.

"Oh, and Cortana," Hawkins then asked, somewhat hesitant but also out of humour. "Aren't you cold?"

Hawkins' comment didn't make as much sense, but then she realized why.

When Cortana slept, she regularly slept in a sweater with an undershirt beneath, and she wore nothing else other than her underwear. It was more for comfort on her part.

Currently, she was wearing that, in the middle of an alleyway. The cold crept by her legs, and she then started to shiver a bit, until the warmer feeling of humiliation kicked in.

"That wasn't funny" Connor replied, his voice threatening. He stood up, as though trying to intimidate Hawkins.

"I wasn't making fun of her, I was just curious" Hawkins replied.

"The least you could have done was inform her without making it sound so funny" Connor said, his voice still low and threatening.

"Geez, calm down kid," Hawkins said in response to Connor's threatening words. "Anyways, we'll be moving out soon. Be ready to move."

As he left, Cortana stood up next to Connor.

"Connor, you don't have to do that" she said.

"Do what?"

"_Defend_ me," Cortana replied. "I can fend for myself."

Connor's usual scowl faded into an apologetic face.

"I'm sorry, but that's what I decided to do ever since I met you. If somebody tried to hurt you, I figured I should be there to protect you" he replied.

"That's sweet," she replied, smiling. "But you don't need to worry about me quite so much as you think."

Connor accepted that, and shortly after, a younger soldier, ordered the soldier in the alleyway to get up and move. He also signaled for Cortana and Connor to come up to where he and Hawkins were.

"For your protection, you two will be up here with us," he said in a strict and gruff military manner. "Stay close and do not stray from the group."

"Fun" Connor replied sarcastically.

"Shut up kid. Just keep with the group."

The soldier shot a harsh look at Connor, enough to shut him up for good.

"Kid, Foley, shut up and keep quiet" Hawkins ordered before leading all of them onwards.

It would be another block of walking around before Cortana had any sort of bearings on where they were going. During that lapse of time, she grew more and more uncomfortable. To be walking around in the middle of an alleyway with no pants was not what she would imagine herself doing at one point in her life. But there was nothing she could do about it – Cortana doubted she would be able to ask somebody for their pants.

"Alright, we're getting closer to the safe zone," Hawkins reported to the others. "Put your weapons and safe and keep them hidden until we get in. After that, hand them in to the bouncers inside and take five."

The soldiers replied in a quiet and scattered wave of approval and did so, switching their weapons to their safeties. When they finished, they moved in further, and from there Cortana spotted their safe zone – and gasped in shock.

There was no mistaking the neon signs and the trademarked foamy shaped and vanilla coloured grasshopper symbol – their safe zone was The Vanilla Hopper.

"That's the safe zone?" she asked Hawkins.

"Yeah, we've got a small command centre right below it," Hawkins replied. "Why do you ask?"

Cortana chose not to reply; she remembered the last time she had been to the bar. It was the first, and last, time the idiot Jericho invited her. The bar was owned by him, and he always sought to get her to come, and for once, Cortana did. She would never forget how horrible the entire affair was, and she was lucky to have gotten out before somebody tried to spike her drink.

As they walked up to the main entrance, Cortana looked through the large windows and spotted crowds of people inside. The bar's somewhat post-modern design and colourful aesthetics seemed contrary to the otherwise depressing city which the remains of humanity toiled living in. Perhaps places such as this, as well as the presence of alcohol, provided for some means of release from the harsh nature of the real world. Tables were set up all around, and most of them were packed with people.

Hawkins spoke with the hugely built bouncers at the front of the door, and they let them pass through. When they walked in, another bouncer came up to the group, and as the solders passed by him, they each handed in their SMG's and Battle Rifles. Looking at their faces, Cortana could tell that the solders were uneasy to be letting go of their weapons. Being in a combat situation, it would probably seem safer if they had some means of fighting back with them.

"Heeey, welcome back Hawkins," a suddenly familiar voice piped up. "You brought guests! Wanna order up a round? It's on the house!"

Looking in its direction, Cortana spotted the one person she now dreaded the most – Jericho. He was almost the same as ever, with the exception of a black eye, courtesy of Rhineland when he hit him, as well as a bandaged hand from when the Master Chief disarmed him.

Cortana tried to hide herself, but Jericho spotted her almost too soon.

"There ya are Cathy," he purred. His eyes then snaked across Cortana's legs. "My, my, you came in exactly what I was hoping you'd wear!"

Connor stepped forward, his stance threatening and aggressive, with his fist clenched and ready to strike.

"Back off, or you'll be getting another black eye" he snarled.

Jericho almost immediately backed off, throwing his hands up in his defense.

"Hey, whoa, wait, wait, I'm not tryin' to do anything, I'm, y'know, tryin' to talk, y'know what I mean? No need to get all violent on me all a sudden."

"What's going on?" Hawkins asked, looking from Cortana, to Connor, and then to Jericho.

Cortana quickly explained the previous situation, how Jericho tried to kidnap her, and how he tried to do so by using a pistol loaded with blanks.

"Jericho did this?" Hawkins replied, confused. "Was he even around the area then?"

"What's so hard to believe about it?" Connor asked in fury. "He tried to kidnap her! If you know Cathy well enough, you should be shooting him for trying to hurt her!"

Hawkins sighed annoyingly, and tried his best to calm the defensive Jericho and the angry Connor.

"It's harder to believe because Jericho is one of ours" Hawkins replied.

Both Cortana and Connor gave Hawkins a look of shock.

"It's true, actually," the soldier next to Hawkins, whom Cortana figured to be Foley from conversations between him and Hawkins, said. "He gathers intel for us from the street."

"And you actually trust this snake?" Connor asked.

"Hawkins does, but I don't," Foley replied, much to Jericho's dismay. "But if Hawkins trusts him enough to get info from him now and then, I might as well."

The two soldier's comments on Jericho didn't make Cortana feel the least bit more comfortable. She tried to cover herself, but her sweater was only able to go so far. The sooner she and Connor would be out of the bar, the better.

"Hey, relax Cathy," Jericho said, throwing up his nicest sounding voice possible. "I'm real sorry about what happened – it was a misunderstandin', shits and giggles, y'know."

"Misunderstanding?" Connor scoffed. "How is a kidnapping attempt a misunderstanding?"

"Calm down kid," Foley said, putting himself between the two. "Connor, what about this – we keep Jericho away from Cathy, and if he tries anything like that again, we'll personally throw him over the roof of the apartment."

Foley's comment was met with a smile from Connor, and a scared look from Jericho.

"Deal."

"Good," Foley replied. "Now, Hawkins, we've got to get back into the tunnels."

"In a minute, Foley," Hawkins said, looking away as he waved a hand to the bartender.

Cortana sat down next to a table built into the wall, with Connor sitting next to her. She tried to stay near closer to the outside, but other people pushed her and Connor inwards until they were then sandwiched in the middle.

Looking at Hawkins, she noticed how…tense he seemed. It wasn't a normal, cautious type of tense that someone like the Master Chief would have, but like a type of tense where somebody was about to do something, and they were still having second thoughts.

"Hawkins, we've got to move" Foley reminded him.

"Not yet Foley," Hawkins replied, finally turning around to see him. "I think you and the others earned yourselves a drink and a break."

The bartender brought out a tray of shots gave handed the tray over to Hawkins, who then came around and let all the soldiers take one. Most of them looked towards the drinks with faces of glee and happiness – they probably haven't anything decent to drink in ages.

"Now, I'd like to propose a toast," Hawkins said after handing the drinks out. He made a slashing motion to tell the soldiers not to drink. "Anything in particular we'd want to toast to now, or will I have to go ahead with mine?"

"To the resistance?" a soldier piped up.

"To the Covies, for letting us kick their asses?"

"To the Chief for getting us this far?"

"Well, that's all good and all," Hawkins replied to their choices. "But I'd like to call a toast to Foley, whose instincts has helped us greatly this night. If it weren't for him, we would have still been inside the tunnel when the Covies showed up."

"To Foley!" a soldier yelled.

"Well boys, drink up."

Foley looked from his small glass to Hawkins and back. His smile then faded as he looked at Hawkins the last time.

"Wait, don't-"

It was too late – the soldiers already drank their drinks.

Cortana watched from her seat, and she too noticed that something was wrong. It finally came to its peak when she noticed one of the soldiers started to choke. And then another, before finally, all the soldiers who drank the shots were on the ground clutching their throats.

Their shots were poisoned.

Foley looked from them to Hawkins again, and in a flash, he threw the drink to the ground and took out his sidearm.

"Hawkins, what the hell's going on!"

As the entire drama began to unfold, Cortana tried to get up from her seat, but a hand on her shoulder pushed her down.

"Relax Cathy, have a drink" Jericho purred as he slid in next to her and kept her to her seat. She then felt a hand slowly caress her thigh.

Cortana shot Jericho a hard look and pushed his hand away from her. Connor tried to stand up as well, but one of the people sitting next to him drew a pistol and pressed it against his back, forcing him to his seat.

"Cortana, Connor, stay put," Hawkins said from where he stood. "I wouldn't want either of you getting hurt with all this going on."

Foley kept his sidearm trained on Hawkins's head.

"Answer me, Hawkins! The soldiers trusted you!"

"I know they did, but there's been a change of plans," Hawkins replied, his expression hard to discern emotion from. "Put the gun down Foley."

"Bullshit," Foley said, biting his lip. "I'm not doing anything until I get some answers!"

"Put the gun down, now, Foley, or we'll have to do it by force" Hawkins said.

A duo of men then came out of their seats and one brought out an SMG, and the other, a Covenant plasma rifle, and aimed their weapons at Foley.

"Do it Foley," Hawkins urged. "The plasma will stun your nervous system enough that you won't be able to get a good shot on me, and you'll already be dead by then. This is a situation that favours us, not you. You've been with me long enough and I have said before that when the situation doesn't favour you, you don't enter it."

Foley looked at Hawkins and then to the thugs behind him.

From the table, Cortana watched on. Hawkins was right – Foley was in a bad situation. Sure enough, he held his hands up and one of the thugs took his weapon.

"Tell me Hawkins," Foley began. "What are you getting out of this by the Covies? Are they paying you? Or are you doing this out of the goodness of heart?"

Hawkins held a long pause before he gave a short reply.

"It's personal."

"Personal enough to kill your own men over?" Foley retorted.

Hawkins walked up to Foley, standing mere millimeters from his face.

"Personal enough that you don't need to know why I did it."

Cortana looked closer and noticed the first sign of emotion from Hawkins since the whole situation began. Strangely, it wasn't anger, but it appeared closer to that of sorrow. It seemed that part of Hawkins regretted doing this.

She had no time to think about it further, as Jericho's hand made another assault on her legs.

"Jericho, stop screwing around and go get the Colonel" Hawkins ordered.

Jericho stopped and got up from his seat, leaving the table and went for the door in the back.

"Who's the Colonel?" Cortana asked from her seat.

"He's the one who planned this," Hawkins said. "I simply went along with it."

"Why?" Foley demanded.

"It's the chain of command, Foley – the other soldiers take orders from you, then you take orders from me, and I take my orders from somebody higher."

"No, not that," Foley said in response. "_Why _didyou do it? You had your orders, but do your orders matter more than several young soldiers who trusted their lives into your hands?"

Hawkins remained tightlipped about it, but as each second passed, more sorrow began to show in his face.

"You don't need to know."

Moments later, the doors at the end of the bar opened and Jericho came through, followed by another.

The other person was human, male, and he was easily older than Hawkins or Stacker. He slowly shambled out, his hand holding onto a cane to help him keep his balance. The more he stepped out, the more Cortana could pick out the details of the old, yet still carefully maintained uniform he wore.

When she caught sight of his face, she gasped. It was the person she was least expecting; the same person that could be held credible for the defeat of mankind thirty-five years ago.

It was Colonel Ackerson.

"Good work Hawkins" he said, his voice old and worn, but still teeming with authority.

"You've got to be kidding me," Foley said in disgust. "Don't tell me you're actually working for him Hawkins. He's the same person who threw humanity away, and for what, the fact that he wasn't getting any love from the brass?"

Ackerson took a step forward.

"You've got something to say to me, son?"

"No, but if it weren't for the two henchmen you have standing behind me," Foley replied, defiant. "I would have taken you out by out."

The two thugs behind Foley prepared to fire, but a quick slashing motion from Hawkins stopped them from firing.

"Where are the others?" Ackerson impatiently asked.

"We had to split up back at the apartment," Hawkins explained. "They should be here shortly."

"Alright Hawkins, if you're not willing to tell me why you're doing this, then at least tell me what's going on" Foley said.

Hawkins looked away as Ackerson took another step forward and began to explain. Cortana noted the look on his face. For the most part, he wasn't unaffected by this – each mention of the events that just occurred was bringing him closer to fully breaking down.

"This is all part of my plan, soldier," Ackerson said. "This is going to win our war for us."

Foley scoffed, and narrowed his eyes at Ackerson.

"How? Let me guess, we're going to win through nonviolent protest," Foley said sarcastically. "Maybe the Covies will give our planet back and kill themselves if we do that."

Ackerson walked up to Foley and stood roughly a centimeter from his face.

"You're in the wrong position to criticize, soldier," Ackerson said, his voice low and dangerous. "I'd recommend that you stay in line before we add you onto the list of those already dead."

Foley seemed ready to attack Ackerson, but he held himself back. Ackerson stepped away and turned his attention towards others.

"Alright, hide the bodies and wait for the next-"

His eyes briefly glanced towards the table both Cortana and Connor was sitting at, and then focused. Cortana felt Ackerson's eyes burning on her, in particular. He took a step closer, and Cortana was sure of it – Ackerson was looking at her.

"Who are you, miss? Stand up!"

Cortana felt herself in a weaker position. Part of her wanted to hide, but she summed up whatever courage she had left and stood up. It was time she faced him anyways. She nearly killed him several years back, and now was the time to face him.

When she stood up, a look of shock developed on Ackerson's face.

"What? It can't be…Catherine!"

"You're close, boss," Jericho piped in. "Her name's Cathy, a babe from around here-"

Ackerson threw a hard glance at Jericho, and Jericho stopped talking.

"You're close," Cortana replied. "Dr. Halsey is dead, but I'm still here."

"Who are you?" Ackerson asked. "Catherine never had a daughter, so just who in the hell are you!"

"Dr. Halsey had one – me. You know me as Cortana."

A look of absolute shock suddenly grew on Ackerson's face, as well as on Jericho. For a moment, all eyes in the bar were on Cortana. It felt strange, but otherwise, Cortana couldn't help being proud of herself.

"You were an AI, Cathy?" Jericho asked, looking at her. "Well, you were one sexy piece of-"

"Shut it Jericho! What the hell's going on? Hawkins?" Ackerson screamed in fury.

Hawkins briefly summarized the events of Cortana's humanization. As he did, a look of anger continued to grow on Ackerson's face.

"Why the hell would you do that!"

"I was with Stacker back then, and we all thought it was the right thing to do" Hawkins explained, part of his voice with fear.

"Well, it was the wrong thing to do Hawkins. You messed up" Ackerson said angrily.

Ackerson continued to berate Hawkins. As he did, Connor pushed Cortana back down into her seat.

"Cathy, what are you doing?" he asked.

"Connor, that's Colonel Ackerson," Cortana explained. "He was responsible for humanity's defeat."

Connor didn't reply. He didn't care for the situation as much as Cortana did. Cortana listened on as Ackerson continued to yell at Hawkins, while the bodies were carried away.

"The others are here!" one of the bouncers yelled.

Ackerson stopped, and smiled.

"Good, let them in."

Ackerson slowly stepped away, and the thugs pushed Foley off but then there were sounds of gunfire. A second later, the doors opened and two men walked in.

The first was a soldier, who threw aside his weapon so that the others inside the bar wouldn't shoot him. The other was Stacker.

"Hawkins, Colonel Ackerson" Stacker said, as though greeting them.

"Stacker, it's good to see you," Hawkins replied, somewhat relieved by his presence. "Same to you, Elias."

The soldier, Elias, nodded.

"Hawkins, would you care to explain why you just kill your own men, and why you're making deals with Ackerson?"

"How did you know?" Hawkins asked.

Stacker pointed outside and explained briefly.

"We got here at about the same time as you guys did, and we held back long enough to see what happened. So, back to my question – why?"

"I can explain it Stacker. It's part of a strategy from Ackerson on how to win."

"Really?" Stacker asked, skeptical. "How so?"

"The first steps to doing this is to hand the resistance groups over to the Covenant," Ackerson explained. "If we do that, the Covenant will lighten their guard and this will give us an opportunity to strike back when the time is right. And so far, this is going to plan. Even before this, I was able to get informants out to the Covenant and tell them where we would attack next. All of which, was aided by Hawkins."

"It's true, Stacker," Hawkins said in sadness. "I helped. The attack on the street and the ammo raid – a few other guys and I leaked info for the Covenant, and they were ready for it."

"What about the base?" Foley asked from his location in the bar.

"That too," Hawkins replied. "I gave them the location myself, and they came."

Hawkins then turned towards Cortana, his face apologetic.

"I had nothing to do with apartment, Cortana. That was Jericho screwing around."

Cortana looked over at Jericho in disgust. He tried to explain himself, but Cortana cut him short by a slap to the face.

"Hey! I wasn't going to hurt you; I just wanted to get rid of that Spartan guy!"

Cortana, as well as everybody in the bar ignored Jericho's pleas.

"Why though? Why would you do that?" Stacker asked.

"It was part of Ackerson's plan, and it required me to give away the resistance locations," Stacker explained. He then pulled out a series of maps and papers from a pouch. "The Covenant should be here in a few minutes, and when they do get here, I'll hand over the maps to all the tunnels to them."

Stacker looked at the maps, his gaze impossible to decipher. From where Cortana was sitting, the entire scene was an act in the making – a drama slowly unfolding.

"Do you honestly think that's going to work?" Stacker asked.

"It will work," Ackerson interjected rudely. "We will have our victory."

Stacker paused for a bit, listening intently to Ackerson's words.

"Colonel, you should listen to yourself – there's no substance in your words," Stacker said finally, much to the dismay to Ackerson, and the shock from Foley and Hawkins. "You're saying one thing, but deep down, you disagree – it's like you're reading off a damn script."

Cortana thought about that for a moment. In a way, Stacker was right – everything Ackerson said sounded feigned. It was hard to tell, but there was a hint of it in his voice.

"The same goes for you, Hawkins," Stacker continued, turning his attention towards Hawkins. "I don't know enough about Ackerson to figure out why, but as you, there's something else. How long have I known you for?"

"Long time, Stacker, ever since the war" Hawkins said, shrugging.

"Within that span of time, I've learned that you're a good soldier," Stacker said, smiling. "You take your job seriously, you don't lead soldiers to their deaths, and you care enough about everything to be a good leader. That makes the men trust you, and that makes you a good leader."

Hawkins paused as he listened to Stacker's kind words.

"Thanks."

"But, I'm wondering why somebody like you would do something like this. You would have rather died than give anything to the Covenant. Besides, the plan won't work."

Ackerson stepped forward, as though insulted.

"You're bluffing."

Stacker smiled.

"Am I? Hawkins, your maps have all the tunnels and sewer lines that the resistance uses for bases, but how many of them are actually marked?"

Hawkins looked at Stacker for a moment, and then referred back to his maps. Hawkins's face turned to shock, but then acceptance and then to that of a congratulatory smile.

"Only my tunnel and a few others – so I don't have a complete map. I know all the other entrances by memory and by landmarks."

"Exactly," Stacker continued. "That map won't lead the Covenant anywhere, and the other groups were smart enough to hunker down and hide in theirs when your tunnel was compromised."

"We get your point," Ackerson said, stepping in between the kindly conversation between Stacker and Hawkins. "What are you going to do about it?"

Stacker reached into his pocket and took out a small stack of papers and waved them.

"Since I took more of an intelligence post for the resistance, I got all the other tunnel locations from the other groups and divisions in the city. They're all here – your maps will only tell the Covenant what they already know, and that alone would piss them off – and we both know that pissed off Covies are even worse."

Cortana looked at Stacker, noting his confident gaze. He held the maps bravely and he did so as though he did not care. In his hands held the fate of the human resistance.

"Hand them over then," Ackerson commanded. "You were stupid enough to mention that you have them, and even stupider to bring them out. Hand them over, and this will be over quickly."

Stacker put the maps back into his pocket.

"I'll hand them over unless you do a few things," he said. "First, let Cortana, Connor, and Foley go."

The people in the bar weren't too shaken by the first of Stacker's demands, with the exception of Jericho, who was appalled.

"Wait, let's revise that – we let the soldier and the kid go, but Cathy stays with us" he piped up.

Ackerson threw a 'shut the hell up' glance at Jericho, and he quieted down.

"Next," Stacker continued. "This goes for the both of you – never associate yourselves with the resistance ever again. If you do, we'll be coming for you."

Stacker emphasized the last part, and Hawkins accepted it.

"I got it."

"Now hold on, what sort of deal is that?" Ackerson asked in fury, stepping forward to face Stacker. Stacker was of a smaller build, but Ackerson was still smaller and frailer than him. However, Stacker didn't have the raw ferocity of Ackerson.

"Don't forget – we have more men in this bar than you do, and let me as you this: what would prevent us from killing you and taking the maps ourselves?"

"First," Stacker replied, calmly holding his ground. "I have more men outside, including a really good sniper, all watching the windows, and if anything happens, they'll open fire, and trust me, they're good at shooting.

"Second, your instant reaction force comprising of twenty men in the back rooms have all been neutralized."

Ackerson's glance turned into confusion as he looked into Stacker's eyes, trying to figure out of Stacker's claim was indeed the truth, or rather, a carefully established bluff.

"Not sure?" Stacker asked, confident yet again. "Send somebody back there to see if your guys are all down."

Pausing for a moment, Ackerson reacted by waving towards a door near the back of the bar. One of the thugs sitting down at a table near it got up and ran in to check. It felt only like a minute after he ran in before the doors opened again.

And walking through the doors was a Spartan, Battle Rifle and satchel filled with ammo and all.

Cortana's heart stopped as she saw the Master Chief. Inside, she screamed in joy with how timely his appearance was. Looking towards Ackerson, Cortana's enjoyment only grew when she saw the look on his face.

"If you dare open fire on any of us as to break this deal, we will fight back," Stacker said. "And don't forget, we've got a Spartan on our side. We don't like killing fellow humans, but if you force us to, we will."

Ackerson said nothing as he watched on in shock. His face paled as he stared at the massive and fully armoured Spartan.

"Colonel James Ackerson," the Master Chief said, his voice strict and filled with military authority unlike anything this era had yet to experience. "You are hereby charged with treason against humanity, the war effort and against the United Nations Space Command."

"Treason?" Ackerson said in an attempt to defend himself. "I did what was necessary to win the war."

"And those actions are treasonous," the Master Chief continued. "And they are punishable by death."

At that moment, the entire bar froze. The Master Chief stood, Battle Rifle at ready, aimed squarely at the Colonel's head.

"Wait, stop!"

Connor stood up from his seat.

"Chief, killing him won't do anything – you'll just be shedding more blood! What good is a resistance is we'll be killing our own side?"

Cortana tried not to think ill of Connor, but Connor's beliefs against the resistance and against further violence where his own opinion. He was even right to a certain degree. But it was because Connor didn't know the entire story - particularly that regarding his father and the war.

"The kid is right," Ackerson said, relieved by a certain amount of Connor standing in. "Killing me for treason won't help you so much, Master Chief."

Cortana's mind instantly thought ahead, and she pulled together what she would say. Her mouth opened, but the words never came. Was it justified if she was to say it? Was it justified if she used the same information that Colonel Ackerson used to sway the human opinion to her advantage?

Was it morally right? Did it make her any less of a monster than Colonel Ackerson?

"Colonel, can I ask you a question?" Cortana then asked, almost randomly. She stood up, ignoring the fact that the entire bar could probably see her legs and underwear.

Ackerson looked over to her in curiosity, unsure about how her asking questions would fit in now. He nodded, and his angered glance constantly burned on her. He looked at her the same way he would have looked at Dr. Halsey.

"About the resistance fighters during the war – why did you do it?"

Cortana purposely made her question cut down and short. She figured that if Colonel Ackerson could respond to that, it made her the lesser of two evils.

"What do you mean?" Ackerson asked, confused, as most of the inhabitants of the bar were.

Connor was about to speak, but Cortana waved a hand that kept him quiet. She wanted him to hear this.

"The resistance fighters from the United States – why did you do it? Don't play dumb with me, Colonel."

"Why?" Colonel Ackerson asked, still curious why Cortana was asking such an apparently irrelevant question. "Their deaths were the leverage that I needed."

Cortana only briefly glanced at Connor's face, but she instantly saw the shock.

"When they died, they gave me all that I needed to win the war," Ackerson continued. "My SpecOps were superior to Halsey's freaks, and all I needed was a sign that they were needed, and those fighters were it."

Ackerson took a step closer, and his voice emphasized the last part of his reasoning.

"I would have cared less if any one of them made it out alive – the fact that enough of them died, and the fact that somebody in command was smart enough to pull Halsey's freaks out was what made it possible."

"You made profit from their deaths?" Connor then asked, joining in. His voice was in a state of unbelievable shock.

"Profit? No, I got closer to bringing humanity victory" Ackerson said, continuing his argument.

There was then a moment of silence as Connor took in the information. Cortana knew she had won, but when looking at Connor, she realized how much of a cost it came at.

"Are you telling me," Connor then continued, his voice slowly filling with anger. "That after my father died, fighting for the same cause you fought for, you used his death as an excuse to further your own greed?"

Colonel Ackerson looked at the teenager as he thought about his words.

"Your father was amongst the resistance fighters killed on that day? You don't realize it, but his death was a necessary sacrifice that brought humanity closer to victory-"

"What sacrifice!" Connor yelled, now fully enraged. "How can you even say that – you used his death as thought it was a statistic, and for what? So that humanity can be reduced to where it is now? What kind of victory is that!"

Connor then slowly broke into tears. The realization of it was too much for him. Cortana tried to soothe him, but there was nothing that she could have said or done to help him.

"Enough of this," Hawkins said, stepping in. "Let's get this over with – Foley, Connor, and Cortana can go, and I get the maps."

The people at the table got up and let Connor and Cortana out. Across the bar, the thugs holding Foley at gunpoint relaxed, and the soldier was free to go.

As Connor walked on, he glanced at Ackerson only once. His glance was long and hateful, but it did nothing to Ackerson.

"Aw, come on boss," Jericho complained to Ackerson. "Can't you do anything? We're getting gypped – I'm getting gypped – if we let Cathy go. She's such a nice piece of ass that we're just letting go."

Cortana stopped walking and turned to face him, giving him a stern, yet still amused look.

"You know, Jericho," she said sweetly. "I've always hated you, but I'll admit, I saw a bit of charisma and pride in you, and when you've kept trying to ask me out, I'll even give you points for determination."

Jericho smiled and appeared to blush, perhaps out of Cortana's feigned sweetness.

"But in the end, you're nothing more than Ackerson's bitch."

With that, Cortana walked off and stood behind Stacker, alongside Connor. Jericho's smile turned to a sulk, realizing just how harshly he was insulted.

The first part of the trade was complete. Walking up to Stacker, Hawkins took the maps from Stacker's hands. He looked over them, and then held them at his side, not yet pocketing them.

"We're done here, Hawkins," Stacker said. "I'll see you later."

Stacker turned to leave, as did everybody else. The Master Chief paused for a moment and watched the bar, making sure that their exit would go fine.

"It's my daughter."

Stacker stopped dead in his tracks when Hawkins spoke up. He turned around to face him, deeply puzzled.

"What?"

"The Covenant has my daughter," Hawkins continued, now saddened and hurt. "They're holding her prisoner."

"You had a daughter, Hawkins?" Foley asked, startled.

"Explain it, Hawkins" Stacker asked, wanting to know why Hawkins betrayed the resistance.

"Olivia was born three years after the war ended," Hawkins began, painfully remembering the past. "Her mother died shortly after and I raised her myself while leading the resistance. Olivia went missing seven years ago, and I never stopped looking for her.

"A few months ago, I met Colonel Ackerson, and he had enough intelligence to prove that she was kidnapped and was being held by the Covenant, and if I helped him in a series of plans, he would negotiate with them to let her go."

Stacker looked at Hawkins in complete bewilderment. Cortana realized that this was why he was so uncomfortable earlier. Hawkins wasn't a traitor – he was simply a father trying to find his daughter.

"And you went ahead with Ackerson for her?" Stacker asked, trying to understand it.

"I had to – Olivia's all I've got left now," Hawkins reasoned. "She's my daughter, and I love her, and I want her back."

Hawkins confession stunned Foley and Elias in particular. Foley stepped forward to address Hawkins.

"Y'know, Hawkins, you didn't need to do that," Foley began. "If you let us know, we would have done everything in our ability to find and bring her back. You don't need some stuffy, washed out Colonel – you have us, and we would have gotten it done by now."

"Foley has a point," Stacker stepped in. "We're all here for you – me, Foley, Elias, the Master Chief, the entire resistance – and we can find and liberate her. You didn't need to follow Ackerson at all, and we can still find her now."

Hawkins was still silent, but as seconds passed, his condition improved. He looked into Stacker's eyes, now confident and resolved. He then turned to Ackerson.

"I won't do this – get somebody else to be your henchmen. We'll find Olivia on our own."

Ackerson scoffed, and then gave Hawkins a long, cruel stare.

"You're a disappointment, Hawkins, but you've accomplished nothing, and you will get nothing out of this." Ackerson then shifted his tone and glance. "Since you and I won't be working with each other again, I'll let you know this – Olivia is dead."

Hawkins looked at Ackerson in shock, as did everybody else.

"You're lying."

"Am I?" Ackerson chuckled. "Olivia was kidnapped and taken in for questioning by the Covenant seven years ago, and died four years later. I hid certain facts from you so that you would cooperate with me. After you helped me to get what I needed, it would then be up to you on how to react to this."

Hawkins looked away, the facts slowly getting to him. He was refusing to believe it.

"Don't believe me?" Ackerson cruelly questioned. "Check the north-eastern portion outside of the city walls – you'll find an unmarked grave with a female body that was killed four years ago by a single plasma round to the head. You'll know its Olivia when you run the genetic tests, but you'd know in particular when you find that pair of dog tags that you gave to her as a gift when she was younger."

Hawkins slowly broke down into tears as the information caught him. He angrily swore, but there was nothing he could do to relieve himself of the pain.

"You lied to me."

"You were a helpful tool, Hawkins; I did whatever it took to get you to side with me."

"That's just plain sick" Foley remarked, disgusted.

Hawkins couldn't say anything, but he responded by pulling out a sidearm.

A single shot rang out, and Hawkins fell to the ground clutching his stomach. Jericho held a smoking pistol in his hands.

"Shut up you old fart" he taunted, as he quickly scrambled forth and snatched the maps from Hawkins.

Right as that happened, the entire bar suddenly burst into gunfire. The bar patrons took out their weapons and fired, while the resistance soldiers from outside the bar did so as well. Cortana got down, and as did Foley and Elias, who scrambled to get whatever weapons they could.

Looking around, Cortana spotted Jericho making a run for it. The Master Chief tried to stop him, but the barkeeper then pulled out a shotgun. The Master Chief fired a quick burst, instantly killing the barkeeper, but several others in the bar opened fire with various small arms, forcing the Spartan to cover.

In the midst of the firefight, Jericho slipped out the back. Cortana groaned in defeat – he had the maps. Everything was lost now.

In the middle of the fight, Ackerson scrambled away, but his weak legs marred his progress. Out of the corner of Cortana's eyes, she spotted Connor taking cover behind a table. As soon as a thug wielding a pistol fell from a gunshot, Connor burst out and grabbed his weapon.

As soon as Connor's hands grabbed the small sidearm, he quickly aimed and fired at Ackerson. Connor was only able to fire a single shot before being forced to retreat, but after that single shot, Ackerson fell to the ground. The wounded Colonel continued to move, however, and was able to crawl out the back door.

Taking cover behind a table, Stacker and Foley tended to the wounded Hawkins. His bloody hands clutched his stomach, and blood leaked from his mouth.

"It got him in the stomach," Stacker explained. "If we don't get him medical attention now, he's gone."

Hawkins shook while he continued to bleed, and his breathing patterns were suddenly erratic. But his wounds were the least of his worries.

"W-What have I…done?"

"Don't worry Hawkins, you'll be fine" Foley reassured, although of little use.

"I'm-I'm-I…sorry. I'm sorry, Foley," Hawkins said, stuttering. "F-F-Fist-A-Alpha…lead them…Foley. D-Don't stop f-fighting."

"I won't" Foley replied.

Hawkins lifted his sidearm and gritted his teeth as he tried to get up.

"Go! G-Get out of here! Get…out!"

"Let's move! Chief, let's go!" Stacker yelled.

The Master Chief stopped firing and moved out, getting to where Cortana was and covered her. The entire group then slowly exited, leaving behind the wounded Hawkins. Just before Cortana got out the door, she watched as Hawkins stood up and began firing back. He was going to die there, and he was eager to meet it.

They ran across the street and into an alleyway adjacent to the bar. A handful of resistance soldiers hunkered down there, aiming and firing their weapons into the bar. Cortana recognized one of them – Rhineland, who was now sporting a sniper rifle.

"You're just in time!" he said. "Covies are moving in for the kill!"

"Right, let's get out of here then" Stacker replied, ordering for everybody to move.

In mere moments, they were on the run, moving farther away from the bar. As they ran, Cortana tried desperately to ask Stacker or the Master Chief about the maps.

"Don't worry about them," the Master Chief replied, his voice calm as ever. "Stacker planned it well."

As the group briefly stopped, Stacker pulled out some sheets of paper from another pocket. Cortana gasped when she realized that it was yet another set of maps.

"What's going on?" she asked, wanting to know.

"I bluffed when we were still in the bar," Stacker explained. "Those maps that I gave to Hawkins were fakes. The location of the resistance bases is still a secret. Now, that idiot Jericho has them, so we're fine."

Cortana couldn't believe it. Stacker's plan was brilliant, yet bizarrely simple.

"So, where do they lead?"

Stacker chuckled and Elias did so as well, and Rhineland was grinning ear to ear. The Master Chief was quiet, but even so, Cortana could sense some degree of anticipation from him.

"Oh, they lead somewhere, and I wouldn't be around when the Covies find it," Rhineland explained. "We warned some of the other groups, and when they got out of their tunnels, Stacker decided to mark their locations on the maps. Needless to say, those boys were instructed to leave a package behind that I think the Covies will enjoy."

The group then continued to move. As they did, Cortana found Connor, who was quiet during the entire trek.

"Connor, are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine" he replied.

"Listen, I'm sorry – you shouldn't have learned it like that, and I shouldn't have mentioned it" Cortana said, apologizing for how she used the information of Connor's father.

"You don't need to apologize," Connor said quietly. "It was better to know it from you."

Connor then smiled at Cortana, the first bit of positive emotion he had yet to display this night.

Connor and Cortana kept with the rest of the group. Stacker was leading them to a new tunnel location. They hurried along the alleyways, keeping up with the group and knowing that they were now part of the resistance.

* * *

Colonel Ackerson groaned as he crawled into the hallway. He stopped and sat up against a wall. His chest was in pain, and he could hardly breathe. The bullet hit him in the back, probably pierced a lung, and exited out the front of his chest.

He was shot before, and he was always used to the pain, but now, he was fatally wounded, with no one to help him.

Ackerson could hear the sounds of gunfire outside in the bar. As he listened to the sounds, everything came back to him – not just the confrontation in the bar, but the events so long ago.

Thirty-five years ago, when he trusted the words of a mysterious source, and ended up betraying his side.

Ackerson could remember it clearly now – he received a message from an unknown individual who told him that the Master Chief was going to disappear during a mission, and that he was to use it as an excuse to further his operations for what would apparently be for a future victory.

At first, Ackerson was skeptical, but when the mission occurred and when the Master Chief actually disappeared, it gave him enough signs to go ahead with it. He trusted such a vague source, and this is how it ended – humanity in ruins at the mercy of their enemy, and him sitting alone in a hallway dying.

Was it his fault? Could humanity's defeat be pinned solely on him?

Ackerson's head turned and he glanced down the hallway. His vision was blurry, and the loss of blood or the shock from the bullet must have done something to him.

He could see a robed person walking towards him.

Ackerson panicked, but he calmed down – this person was wearing clean white robes and a large hood and seemed more akin to an angel. If it were Death, Ackerson almost would have certainly seen something else.

"Help…me…"

The white robed being walked closer to him and then stopped mere inches from him. Ackerson's eyesight was blurry, and he wasn't able to make out the face of this being.

"Colonel James Ackerson" a voice the spoke.

The voice was that of a female. It was sweet and soothing and was laced with honey and gentleness.

"H-how do you know me?"

"I know you well – we know each other well. I spoke to you thirty-five local years ago, and you agreed to do as I have informed you."

Ackerson remembered the messages. Was this the same person? He wasn't sure – he was contacted via messages, and the sender did not speak with him. The sender was woman?

"Is…that you?" he asked.

"It is me," the woman spoke, brushing off her robes. "I have taken on an avatar, but I am still the same individual you spoke with."

An avatar? This sounded almost too strange. Ackerson ignored it.

"Help me…I need help."

"Of course you do," she said, her sweet voice without any care for Ackerson's wound. "Your left lung has collapsed, and the pressure inside your chest is crushing it further, and you are also bleeding as well."

Ackerson listened to how she spoke. She seemed indifferent about his pain. She didn't enjoy it, but it was as though she didn't care enough either.

"I…know that…," Ackerson replied in annoyance. "Help me then."

The woman stepped away.

"I am afraid I cannot."

What? Ackerson cried out in pain as he heard her.

"Listen to me – I helped you back then, so the least you can do is help me now!" Ackerson said, wincing in pain.

"Correction – you helped no one," she replied. "You were an object of Fate and your actions were governed by Fate. I gave you the direction and the rest of enacted by Fate, you being the willing subject of it. Your actions were for a victory, but not one for yourself.

But of course…"

She then leaned towards Ackerson, her face but an inch from Ackerson's. At that distance, Colonel Ackerson could see all the details to her face. Her slender and beautiful face was gorgeous, and her locks of blond hair were angelic but Ackerson noticed her eyes – a beautiful pair of brilliant green irises.

"…the ultimate fate of a traitor is always death."

She then got back up and walked away. Ackerson then realized, for the first time in thirty-five years, that he was played for a fool. He trusted her, and everything he had done was all for her own gain.

Everything he had done – lobbying against the Spartans, taking advantage of a defeat for his own needs, and ultimately tearing apart the last bastions of Earth's already thinned defenses…

It was all for nothing. He had done it, and it was meant to bring defeat.

Ackerson tried to speak – he tried to swear and curse at the bitch for doing this, but he could not speak. Blood seeped from his mouth as he tried to form the words.

He was unable to breathe, and the entire world was rapidly blurring and darkening.

Slowly, he fell to the side, too tired to struggle any further. Moments later, he succumbed to the darkness.

And thus was the end of Colonel James Ackerson.

* * *

A Shadow slowly lumbered down the street, getting closer and closer to its target.

'Yuteryi dismounted as the vehicle got closer and met with the troops already there and waiting for him to arrive. The area was still dark, and the troops were having some troubles seeing in the dark.

"Your Excellency!" A lower ranking Elite ran up to greet 'Yuteryi. "We have established a position around the human structure and we will move in once-"

The Elite froze as 'Yuteryi took a step closer, getting out of the cover of shadows and into a better lit area. He noticeably paled as he caught sight of 'Yuteryi face. The other troops unlucky enough to see his face also pained in fright.

After his eye was shot off by that single projectile, 'Yuteryi had it replaced by a mechanical orb. It fitted inside his eye socket, and it substituted for the one he lost.

However, the orb was larger than an eyeball, and it stretched inside 'Yuteryi's eye socket. The eye was also greatly visible, and a single glance at that, and the swollen flesh around his face was enough to send any hardened warrior of the Covenant shuddering in disgust and sickness.

If the pain wasn't enough, 'Yuteryi also had to cope with the fact that the bombing run he called for right after his eye was shot out was called off at the last second. Because of that, the human resistance fighters, as well as the Demon, had gotten away.

'Yuteryi ignored the Elite and looked at the human structure. His eye scanned the building and provided an x-ray view of the interior. He instantly spotted several humans inside firing their weapons.

Pulling out his plasma rifle, 'Yuteryi stepped into the building and fired. His eye provided several targeting assists, allowing 'Yuteryi to take out the humans with ease. He fired a few shots, each striking each human in the head.

The Covenant soldiers waiting outside took it as a cue to move in. Grunts burst in and sprayed plasma from their pistols, while the Elites and Jackals moved in after them.

Looking down beside him, 'Yuteryi spotted another human sitting down behind a tipped over table. The human was still alive, but he was wounded. 'Yuteryi switched vision modes, and examined the human's wounds, to test out the features of his eye. The degree of accuracy from the eye was breathtaking – every detail of the human's interior and his organs were displayed.

This human's stomach was hit by a bullet, and he was dying. Switching off the vision mode, 'Yuteryi took a last glance at the human's face. He was old, and his hands were wrapped around an empty pistol. He looked up at the Elite with a long and hateful stare.

'Yuteryi raised his plasma rifle and fired a single shot at the human's head, and moved on.

They received a tip to move towards this location, under the promise of victory against the human insurgents. It came from the same individual who tipped off several human operations to them, and 'Yuteryi decided to lead troops in to investigate this one.

The amount of information he received from this tip provided everything, including the identity of the officer in charge. This was supposed to be the final step in eradicating the human resistance.

Looking around the inside of the human building, 'Yuteryi noted how much damage there was. Were the humans fighting themselves? It didn't surprise 'Yuteryi much.

"Your Excellency, we have found the human officer" an Elite reported.

Good. 'Yuteryi was eager to meet with this human. As he walked forward, two Grunts came out of a door near the back of the building carrying a human.

"He is dead."

'Yuteryi was shocked to hear that. Zooming in with his eye, 'Yuteryi examined the body of the dead human. He died from a bullet wound that punctured his chest and lung. 'Yuteryi mentally groaned. They had come all this way for nothing…

"We have also found another human, this one alive. He claims to have the maps to the human tunnels!"

"Yuteryi's spirits lifted when he heard that. A human was then brought before him by several Elites. The human had a small, rat-like frame, and he wore some type of expression the humans called a 'sneer.' That expression was wiped off his face when he saw 'Yuteryi.

"This human, Jher-Ri-ko," the Elite explained, trying to sound out his name. "Has the maps."

'Yuteryi plucked the small pieces of paper from the human's hands and read over them.

"All forces converge on the following locations" 'Yuteryi ordered, naming off several sectors and their entrances.

'Yuteryi used his eye to scan the map, and he sent the scans off for all the troops. They now had their directions, and this was more than needed to ensure their victory here.

He then walked out of the structure with the human and the other Elites. Using a communications unit set up outside of the structure, 'Yuteryi watched and listened as the troops converged on the resistance locations and prepared to assault them.

The holographic image was from an Elite's mission recorder. The warrior jumped down a tunnel and moved along slowly and carefully.

"_We are in the tunnels – closing in on suspected infidel headquarters" _one of the soldiers in the tunnel reported.

"_Wait until all teams are in position before we advance into the human bases."_

Moments passed as other teams moved in. They stopped in front of an apparent dead end, and the leader prepared an entry charge and planted it on the wall in front of them.

"_Ready? Go!"_

The leader detonated the charge, blowing away the wall. They then moved in. 'Yuteryi was expecting the frantic cries of human soldiers to follow, but none came.

"_Spread out! Slay any infidels we shall find!"_

The team split up and moved around the small base. There were many rooms and corridors in the base. They found nothing as they moved around. The base appeared abandoned.

"_Wait, I have found something!" _one of the soldiers reported.

The other converged on the Elite's position, a room with a small device in the centre. The image quality was bad, and 'Yuteryi was unable to tell what it was. The Elites stood around it and tried their best to examine it.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light from it, and then the image died.

Further down the street, 'Yuteryi heard an explosion so loud it shook his armour and almost pushed him back. Several more explosions occurred all throughout the city.

'Yuteryi looked down at the maps and realized that there were the same numbers of explosions as there were resistance base locations. He angrily crumpled the sheets of paper up and threw them to the ground, and then turned his attention to the human they found. The human tricked them.

The human tried to reason with them, speaking in his alien language, but 'Yuteryi ignored it. He raised his plasma rifle and swung at the human's head, knocking him unconscious.

The other Elites took very little time to raise their weapons and open fire on the human's body, burning it with prolonged fire from their plasma rifles.

'Yuteryi walked away, his anger growing inside of him. He was tricked by the humans, and this cost the Covenant many soldiers, as well as their own confidence.

Just then, a Phantom appeared overhead of him. It hovered briefly before offloading a rather large squad of Elites, all belonging to a Special Operations division. The leader walked up to 'Yuteryi, while the others surrounded him. They kept their weapons trained on him.

"Nosla 'Yuteryi, you are under arrest, by order of the Prophet of Regret. Come peacefully, or we shall execute you here and now."

"Under arrest!" 'Yuteryi was shocked and surprised. "Why! How!"

"The Prophet of Regret ordered your arrest for disobeying the orders of the Covenant."

'Yuteryi could not believe this. He wanted to tell them otherwise, but their weapons were still aimed at him. They probably weren't bluffing when they said they would execute him.

"I understand."

The leader eased up, but he still maintained his discipline, as though 'Yuteryi was a wanted criminal. He ordered another Elite to take 'Yuteryi's plasma rifle, and another to restrain 'Yuteryi's hands. The soldiers positioned on the street watched as their commander was being arrested. 'Yuteryi couldn't meet their glances. A greater part of him was humiliated by this.

"Good, now come with us – you will be spending the night on the _Eternal Reverence_'s brig, and tomorrow, you shall meet with the Prophet of Regret."

The Elites pushed 'Yuteryi towards the Phantom, and the gravity lift brought them up and inside its hold. Once inside, they forced him down and kept a watchful eye on him during the flight back to the _Eternal Reverence_.

While in the air, 'Yuteryi continued to wonder why this was happening. Why was he being arrested? And what was the purpose of it? What did he do to wrong the Prophet?

He would receive no answer for now, but the memory of the explosions stayed with him, as did his failure.

* * *

End Note: Wooo...this was a loooong one. Of all the current rewrites, this was the longest. It was an idea that I had for the longest time ever since I put thought into the rewriting, and thought about how Hawkins would fit in, as well as Colonel Ackerson. I'll admit, I disliked a bit of how I developed Hawkins to betray everybody. I was foreshadowing that he wasn't as much of an effective commander and that he was being troubled quite a bit, back in the rewritten Chapter 5, and here is the result of it. I wish I could have done more, but I'll leave it as it is.

At the same time, I was disappointed with my old draft because I mentioned Ackerson quite a bit, and all he is is a name. So, I decided to actually bring him into the plot to explain himself and what he's thinking, why he went with his idea/plan. Doing so also allows me to do some rather evil stuff and introduce yet another character earlier into the story than she should. For everybody who knows Eve of Fate, you know who she is. I personally enjoyed writing that piece. Other than 'Yuteryi, she's the other character I enjoy writing about the most.

Otherwise, this chapter was mostly dialogue - an intense exchange of words. If it were a cinematic (a loooong cinematic - MGS style), it would have worked out better, which was what I was imagining it as when I was writing it. Putting this chapter in also allows for some more characterization, especially for Connor. For him, he's going down the path of 'angst-driven teenager' and I personally like doing this. Actually, he's inspired by the character Connor from _Angel_. No, I don't watch the series much, but I watched a few when my sister did and I noticed his character. He remained in my head for a bit and I acted on it by putting a character that I had inspired almost entirely from him.

Come to think about it, this now depresses me somewhat, to know that I had ripped part of a character off from a TV show. Well, the truth was supposed to have come out at one point or the other I guess.

'Yuteryi's arrest at the end begins a series of him starting to fall apart. I had done the same thing with the old draft, but the change was quicker and he turned into a bit of an ass too quickly. In the rewrite, it'll be a slower change with occasional spikes here and there until he learns what's really going on.


	12. Reassignment

_**Eve of Fate**_

* * *

Chapter 11: Reassignment 

'Yuteryi sat still inside his cell.

The brig on the _Eternal Reverence _was hellhole. The cells - no different from the one 'Yuteryi was put into – were extremely small. They offered barely enough space for a sitting occupant.

'Yuteryi had spent the last three nights there as part of his arrest ordered by the Prophet of Regret. He had very little information on why he was arrested in the first place, and the guards refused to answer him.

Being ever so bored, 'Yuteryi activated his eye and looked around, seeing past the thick material of the walls and into the surrounding area of the ship. He watched as Elites with assorted Grunts and Jackals patrolled the hallways of the carrier, and for a moment, 'Yuteryi even watched the pair of guards standing outside his cell.

'Yuteryi's mechanical eye was a bizarre tool. The more he thought about it, the more he revered it with greater respect. Never before had he been able to see in so much detail. Reams of information were instantly available to him. He could peer through walls, track multiple enemies, and shoot perfect shots. It burned and irritated the side of his head and the flesh around his eye, but he would eventually get used to the pain of it.

If being forced to endure pain resulted in an advantage for himself, 'Yuteryi wouldn't even notice himself accepting it.

Looking through the walls yet again, 'Yuteryi then spotted a group of SpecOps Elites. There were a half dozen of them, closing in towards the brig. As soon as they entered the brig, they headed straight for 'Yuteryi's cell.

"Guards, stand down," the leader ordered. "We are to escort the Commander to a hearing regarding his fate."

The guards nodded and backed off from the cell. The leader opened it and stepped back, the other five closing in with their plasma rifles trained on 'Yuteryi's head.

'Yuteryi eyed the Elites, taking the time to scan their plasma rifles – and noting how they were recently charged – as well as take note of their disgusted faces as they stared into 'Yuteryi's mechanical eye.

So far, this did not seem even close to that of a mere prisoner escort.

The leader then stepped up to 'Yuteryi and fixed a pair of restraining cuffs on his wrists, and then pulled him out.

"Move, prisoner" the leader ordered, lightly pushing 'Yuteryi into the direction of the door.

'Yuteryi took this as the cue to begin walking. Following the leader, 'Yuteryi began his walk, while the others marched in formation around him.

Minutes later, they arrived at the Prophet's chambers. After passing the security tests, they walked inside. The chamber was darker than usual. 'Yuteryi tried to pick out the details of what was hidden in the darkness, but he remembered his eye. Switching to another vision mode, he was then able to see through the darkness at several Councilors and Elites standing at attention, as well as a contingent of Honor Guard. They were probably all here to witness 'Yuteryi's trial.

'Yuteryi's guards stopped him at a short podium that was in front of the Prophet of Regret.

"Noble Prophet of Regret, we have brought the prisoner."

"Release him, and leave at once" the Prophet replied, waving a thin arm.

The leader reached for 'Yuteryi's hands and removed the restraining cuffs, and almost immediately left the chamber. Stepping onto the podium, 'Yuteryi's trial began.

"Do you know why you are here, Commander?" the Prophet asked.

"I have been brought to trial regarding my apparent disobeying of orders" 'Yuteryi replied, his voice low, yet simple and straight to the point.

"Indeed," the Prophet replied. "We shall start on the subject of the operation four days ago, in which you had chosen to lead."

'Yuteryi bowed his head in shame. The operation to sweep in and capture or kill the resistance members was a fiasco. Worse, since 'Yuteryi led the mission, it made him liable to blame for what happened.

"The mission ended in failure due to bad intelligence," 'Yuteryi explained, trying to keep his voice steady. "Our source was reliable in the past, but failed that night."

"And what a horrific failure it was," the Prophet angrily added. "This, 'source' you once relied so highly upon resulted in the deaths of several of our finest warriors!"

Each word burned 'Yuteryi deeply. It was a terrible feeling – to be held accountable for the deaths of his soldiers. It was his responsibility as their commander, but this incident made it worse for him.

"Commander, I have noticed a disturbing trend in your actions," the Prophet continued. "You have failed again and again to successfully combat the human insurgents, and this is resulting in only losses for our Covenant, and yet renewed vigor for the humans! Are you not able to lead your troops? Are you not fit to command?"

'Yuteryi felt himself shrink. He felt weaker as the Prophet continued to berate him. Worse, he felt humiliated for being criticized by the Prophet so easily.

"With all due respect, Holy One, I am still capable of leading our troops," 'Yuteryi said, stepping forward, suddenly ignoring all protocol and routine when speaking to the Prophets. "But I cannot defeat them with so many limitations set upon me. The humans live and know this city too well, and can successfully wage war from within it. Unless I can use heavier support to flush the humans out of hiding, only then can we-"

'Yuteriy then stopped, and realized where he was going. The entire room was silent. The Councilors watched on, their faces expressionless and cold as they watched and judged 'Yuteryi. The Prophet looked down at 'Yuteryi, shaking his head in anger.

"Commander, this brings us to our next point of discussion." The Prophet waved a hand, and a voice recording played throughout the room.

"_To any bomber units able to receive this, take off now and destroy the surrounding street around vehicle hangar twelve. Do so, now! Destroy the humans, all of them!"_

'Yuteryi realized it was his own voice, and he realized in horror where the Prophet was leading him.

"We had met moments before you issued this order, am I correct, Commander?" the Prophet asked, his voice strangely calm.

"Yes, Holy One."

"And it was I who informed you that such force was not to be used against the humans, am I correct?"

"Yes, Holy One."

The Prophet of Regret then angrily snapped out, hitting the side of his gravity throne with his hand.

"If so, then why had you sought to make such an order, if you knew well that doing so is against regulation!"

"The Demon was there!" 'Yuteryi argued back, raising his voice for the first time against a Prophet.

'Yuteryi was not able to control himself. The Prophet wanted a reason, and it was one that only 'Yuteryi understood.

"We had the chance to eliminate a great majority of the human resistance fighters! The chance was there, and we missed it, and because of that, the humans still hide amongst their city, just waiting to attack, and the Demon still lives!"

Around the Prophet's chambers, the assembled Councilors and Elites watched him – judged him. 'Yuteryi suddenly felt small, realizing how fearful he was over how they watched him. The Prophet's face had one of shock that faded away quickly.

It was only now that 'Yuteryi realized that he had stepped out of place and shouted at a Hierarch.

"My suspicions are made true by what I see before me," the Prophet replied to 'Yuteryi's outburst. "You are no longer a capable commander. You are no longer tactful, but vengeful, and your blatant disregard for duty and protocol threatens the sanctity of our lords, and dares to defy the duty of our Covenant."

"This violation of duty calls for a branding of the Mark of Shame, and thereafter, execution."

'Yuteryi felt the inside of him pale and whither away. Was this his ultimate fate, to be branded and have his rank taken from him, and then killed?

"But, given the circumstances, you are to be spared," the Prophet continued. "What you have done was wrong, but you are still a valuable instrument that still wields countless potential."

Was 'Yuteryi hearing this correctly? First, the Prophet of Regret blasted him for disobeying orders and condemned him with death, but now he spares him? Regardless of his confusion, 'Yuteryi was happier at least, that he won't be killed.

Behind him, the doors then opened, and another team of Elites walked in. Amongst the six warriors was a gold armoued commander. 'Yuteryi was tempted to think this one was being brought for trial as well, but his hands were free, and the Elites escorting him held a loose formation.

The new commander walked up to the Prophet, his back straightened and his head held high. 'Yuteryi scanned his armour, noting how new it was, meaning that this commander was only recently promoted.

'Yuteryi then noticed another Elite, one so small, it was obscured behind the shapes of the larger warriors. This Elite wore green civilian armour, and as soon as his face came into view, 'Yuteryi remembered he was.

"Hail, Noble Prophet of Regret!" the Abnormal, one named Sonan 'Jeryima, greeted with enthusiasm, as did the new commander.

"'Yuteryi, I would like to present to you, Commander Eyhisa 'Enkiree, recently commended and rewarded with the rank of commander for his actions in destroying the heretics on verge of threatening High Charity," the Prophet introduced.

"My faith is strong!" 'Enkiree cried. "I serve only the Covenant!"

'Yuteryi already didn't like 'Enkiree. He seemed overly enthusiastic, as well as fitting the description of a stereotypical loyal-to-the-death soldier. 'Enkiree seemed ready to give his life in a suicidal charge if a Prophet ordered him, and if so, he stood at a contrast to 'Yuteryi.

"He shall be taking over as the commander of our forces occupying this planet" the Prophet then said.

A streak of rage then crept through 'Yuteryi, shaking him to his very core. He was at a loss for words. He looked angrily from 'Enkiree and back to the Prophet.

"What is the meaning of this? You cannot possibly reassign my position to him!"

"'Enkiree is a fine and capable, and most importantly, loyal, commander, a greater asset to our forces on this planet" the Prophet answered, speaking nothing but praise for 'Enkiree.

'Yuteryi was not willing to accept this. He turned to face 'Enkiree.

"Tell me, what type of experience qualifies you to command our forces here?"

'Enkiree grunted as he straightened himself and answered.

"I have fought the heretics who have chosen to abandon our Covenant. The heretics are all the same, be it a traitorous Unggoy or a primitive human."

"Those heretics fight according to skills they learned from serving our Covenant," 'Yuteryi replied, his tone harsh and mocking. "On this planet, I fight humans within their own city, and their fighting is far superior to those of a misguided heretic. The last time you've probably fought a human was when you were several ranks inferior to me, when I dominated their planet once and for all."

"Enough, both of you!" the Prophet ordered, a pair of Honor Guard stepping in to separate the two. 'Yuteryi backed off, but kept a long, hateful stare at 'Enkiree.

"Commander 'Enkiree shall begin his duties immediately. As for yourself, 'Yuteryi, you are destined for another role." The Prophet then waved a hand and a holographic image appeared next to him. The image slowly changed into one of a map, particularly of the surrounding area around the human city.

"For ages now, we have sought The Compendium," the Prophet of Regret explained. "A structure that bears with it the full extent of our Lord's knowledge, and we have found it on this world. The mere presence of this structure is why you are being charged, 'Yuteryi, for attempting to order an air strike, for fears that it may be damaged. The importance of this relic is why we have chosen to spare this world and its inhabitants, so that the Compendium shall not fall under harm."

'Yuteryi watched on. He had heard the story many times now – structures or items of interest left behind by the Forerunners. When he was younger they fascinated him, but now they bored him greatly, and in his current state, 'Yuteryi was in no mood to be listening to anything regarding them anymore.

"Your duties, 'Yuteryi, shall be to escort a group of Huragok researchers led by Sonan 'Jeryima to the location of the Compendium, and help recover any vital knowledge the Forerunners have left behind. Do you have any type of questions regarding your reassignment?"

'Yuteryi grunted, planning to ignore the Prophet and get on with whatever he needed, until he noticed something. It was small, but it was there nonetheless. It calmed 'Yuteryi down, but made him question many things inside his head.

"Prophet of Regret, when were these ruins discovered?"

The Prophet raised an eyebrow at him in curiosity over 'Yuteryi's question.

"We have found them only recently a week ago. Why do you ask such a simple question?"

It then came together inside 'Yuteryi's head – a single theory that instantly shattered part of his loyalty to the Covenant. If the Prophet was speaking the truth about the discovery of the Compendium, then everything he knew was a lie.

"Well, what question do you wish to ask, 'Yuteryi?"

"If the Compendium is the sole reason why we have spared the humans, and it was just discovered, then why have we spared them for so long? In fact, the discovery of Forerunner artifacts many years ago, shouldn't we have excavated them by now? The discovery of the Compendium and your relating arguments puzzle me."

The Prophet of Regret froze. His eyes widened as he contemplated 'Yuteryi's question. 'Yuteryi himself froze as the thoughts processed inside his head. If was true though - the general claim was that the Forerunner artifacts were discovered and reported to the Prophets, and that halted the attack and forced the Covenant to watch the humans instead of killing them. But as 'Yuteryi thought about it, he never once seen or heard any recent developments about the supposed artifacts. In fact, the only mention towards the Forerunners that was made in recent sense was what the Prophet of Regret said, about the Compendium, and he spoke of it as though it was the only artifact discovered. It felt as though minutes passed before the Prophet could come up with an answer.

"You shall receive your answers in all due time, 'Yuteryi. In the meantime, this discussion is over. 'Enkiree shall begin his duties immediately, and you shall meet with the Huragok researchers later today."

The Prophet of Regret then floated away into a room further back into his sanctum. He took this as a sign that he was allowed to leave.

His muscles felt strange. The feeling of being so close to execution left his nerves more frayed than he could have ever imagined. The question he asked, as well as the Prophet's answer, still lingered in his head. He rethought it several times, over and over, trying to find an answer.

He only found one, though – everything was a lie.

Was he lied to? Did the Prophets lie to him about why the Covenant had to spare its greatest enemy? The presence of the Compendium made sense as to why the planet was to be spared, but if they never knew of its location so long ago, then why was it being used now? What has the Covenant been doing for so long now?

'Yuteryi pushed it aside for a moment and continued with his duties. A surge of anger grew inside of him yet again as he realized where his reassignment was going to take him. After briefly meeting and assembling with the Engineers, as well as the Abnormal 'Jeryima, 'Yuteryi found himself on a Phantom on a heading far outside the human city and into the scarred and dead lands that surrounded it. It was barely an hour past noon on the human world, the sun tediously hanging overhead.

With his eye, 'Yuteryi looked past the hull of the Phantom and down at the city below. The image was quite blurry and it was difficult to see beyond the ship, but he could have sworn there was fire from down below.

"Pilot, what is happening on the ground?" he asked.

The pilot accessed a computer display from his cockpit and reported back.

"The humans are attacking with vehicles. Their lines of attack are scattered and weak!"

The pilot paid no attention, but 'Yuteryi watched as much as he could from his position. The human attack was quite scattered and it was doing very little damage, other than killing the occasional Elite. However, the attack was for another purpose, 'Yuteryi predicted – it was a sign that the humans weren't fazed by the recent events.

If 'Enkiree was indeed taking over 'Yuteryi's duty as commander, he hoped that he would at least have half a wit regarding how to deal with the humans.

* * *

The Prophet of Regret entered his quarters, surrounded by the constantly patrolling Honor Guards. The trial of Commander 'Yuteryi had, almost surprisingly, shaken him. His question at the end of the trial remained in the Prophet's head. He had to do something regarding it. 

"Guards, leave me, at once."

Motioning a hand, the Honor Guard quickly emptied out of the Prophet's quarters, leaving him alone. Moving towards a set of holographic displays, Regret activated them and a pair of holograms appeared.

"Noble Truth, noble Mercy" he greeted.

The Prophets of Truth and Mercy greeted him back, and their conversation began.

"How goes High Charity?" Regret asked.

"Today, we have executed even more deserters and heretics!" Mercy angrily cried. "And there may be even more that shall leave our side and join the heretics!"

"Quite true," Truth replied to his brother's cries. "The situation here is degrading rapidly. The Sangheili are restless, and they have begun asking and seeking answers for their concerns."

"Just recently, I had placed the commander of our forces under arrest and on trial for disobeying our order to leave the city alone," Regret reported. "And he too, has begun to question our occupation on the human world, and the reasons for it."

"This is unacceptable!" Mercy cried once again in anger. "The destruction of the heretic leaders by the blade of the Arbiter so long ago should have kept the heretics silenced!"

"Quite true," Truth replied. "But the Arbiter fell as he should, and we lack the resources to make a full offensive against the heretics. And we also must consider that the Heretic 'Kisayoree has not yet been slain, and he continues his campaign against us."

Kairo 'Kisayoree was the name of one of the heretic leaders. His name was spoken with both hate and respect. He was a fine and noble warrior and a charismatic and daring leader, but now he was the enemy, inspiring his Sangheili brothers to rise up against the Prophets.

Regret knew of the Arbiter's mission against the heretics. The blessed warrior was successful in thinning the heretic's ranks and assassinating the leaders. However, like the other Arbiters before him, he too fell in combat. But regardless of the Arbiter's work, 'Kisayoree had risen as the next leader, and he was still a problem for the rest of the Covenant.

"How goes the discovery of The Compendium, noble Regret?" Truth inquired.

"This is going all to plan. However, the former Commander has questioned the timing of The Compendium's discovery, and has disputed the claims of Forerunner artifacts. I fear he may know of our plans."

"This is still unacceptable!" Mercy berated him. "You should have branded and executed the incompetent! The mere fact that he still lives is a threat to our Great Journey!"

"Be calm, brother," Truth said, waving a hand. "Commander 'Yuteryi is a valuable asset. He still may be of use to us, but we must keep close watch on him - he may have realized the true nature of the artifacts' discovery."

"I shall do so" Regret answered.

"In the meantime, we must keep up this ruse," Truth explained. "The Sangheili and the others must be kept to this…lie, but this has gone on long enough. We must accelerate to the next phase. The Sangheili must be silenced. We are to begin the changing of the guard, and the Jiralhanae are proven to be a most loyal replacement."

The primitive Jiralhanae were vile, retarded, and heartless beasts, but their brutal stupidity worked well to the Prophets' advantage. They never questioned anything or embarked on anything their society has not conformed towards – a plausible reason why they had yet to develop their own method of space travel. But if swayed, they would be loyal even after death, made so by their firm belief in the Covenant theocracy.

"How soon are we to begin?" Regret inquired.

"As soon as we can, so long as this does not raise suspicion amongst the ranks," Truth replied. "Do what you must to maintain the illusion of a status-quo.

"As for the former Commander, you are to keep him under the closest watch possible, Noble Regret."

Regret listened intently to Truth's orders.

"If he begins to even think about suspect our motives, Commander 'Yuteryi is to be executed – at once."

"Yes, brother" Regret answered, taking note of what he must do, if necessary.

"Our path is clear," Truth continued. "And nothing stands in the way of our Great Journey. With it, we shall achieve our lords' ultimate salvation."

* * *

A trio of Warthogs slowly drove through the dark tunnel, before turning and parking in an underground assembly area. 

The Master Chief got out of the driver's seat and signaled for the technicians to begin their work repairing the now battered vehicles. Angry plasma scoring covered the Warthogs, giving them the hardened and battle-scarred image likened to the animal of which they were named from.

There were grunts and moans as the other soldiers got off the vehicles, particularly those who were wounded in the last attack on the Covenant positions. Still, despite their wounds, the soldiers were confident and in high hopes. Most even shrugged off their burns and laughed, bragging about how previous wounds didn't stop them from going back out to get more.

"Welcome back Chief. Good work out there" Stacker greeted, walking out of a doorway that lead deeper into the base.

The recent attack was made into the heart of the city, harassing Covenant ground forces and positions. It was a quick, clean attack, more out of moral purposes than anything – a symbol to the Covenant that even if the human resistance fighters were beaten and bloodied, they would still fight.

The betrayal by Hawkins set Fist-Alpha back quite a bit, but the soldiers held on. The bases and tunnels located to the outer districts of the city were practically untouched by the Covenant, however, and the ones outside the city, far from the prying eyes of Covenant infantry and command, were not even noticed by the Covenant.

The forces had lost their main forward tunnels closest to the centre of the city, but in exchange, they secured greater safety. They were not in as much risk of being spotted by Covenant patrols, and this granted the soldiers more breathing space in between attacks, as well as a more comfortable resting ground for them other than the dark and grimy tunnels in the centre of the city.

Moral was still high, especially after Rhineland decided to join in with the resistance. The former ODST sniper was now passing his skills down to a younger generation, and had even went as far as to create a sniper division to provide fire during their attacks. The recent attack was even aided by Rhineland and his new cadre of snipers, and for a first mission, they performed admirably.

From out of the darkness of the tunnel came laughter and speech, as Rhineland and the others came into the light.

"For the last time Leggit, that kill did not count!"

"Wha-? That split-lip was still moving, it counted!"

"It was _twitching_, not moving, twitching! It was already dead, so the most you did was waste ammo."

Rhineland was the first to come into view. His sandy beard was shaven down to a thin layer, and he worn overtop of his armour a rough camouflage net to hide the shape of his body. In his arms was his customized sniper rifle, fitted with the modifications he needed for the mission.

The others came into the light, carrying Battle Rifles and scavenged sniper rifles. Other than the camouflage netting, the snipers lead by Rhineland were recognized by the gray berets they wore in place of helmets.

The soldiers shared their congratulations with each other for a moment as they left the tunnel and walked into the rest of the base. It was just one more mission of which they had walked out of still in one piece, and the fact they were still alive gave them all the reason to celebrate.

The Master Chief walked along with the soldiers and then left them to their celebrations. Walking down another hallway and into another room, the Master Chief found himself inside the command centre of their new base. The new command centre was slightly smaller, but the large tables and adequate shelving space, as well as the salvaged computers made up for its size.

The room was empty for the moment, with the exception of one individual sitting in front of a large map of the city with several books and technical displays open. As the Master Chief walked closer, the individual, a woman with shoulder length dark hair and crystal blue eyes turned around and smiled.

"I thought I heard you sneaking up on me," Cortana teased. "Did everybody come back okay?"

Cortana dressed simply, wearing a sweater and a knee length skirt. In spite of the situation that there was a war being fought just outside, Cortana came off in such a way that suggested everything was fine. In her fingers, she held a pair of glasses. She didn't specifically need them, but she claimed it would help her read the diagrams and writing much easier.

The Master Chief then realized he didn't respond just yet.

"The mission went off without a hitch," he finally replied. "How are things back here?"

Cortana quickly looked around the room, almost admiring the crude layout and unorganized machines and shelves inside.

"It's great to be back," she replied, a second later correcting herself.

"Not with the resistance, since I wasn't with them to begin with, but back, in the command position and doing the planning and things."

Cortana wouldn't be able to tell, but the Master Chief was forced to crack a smile underneath his helmet. When she was still an AI construct, she was chatty and proud of herself. Now, inside a physical body, she was still the same, but she was able to express herself with motion, facial expressions, tone of voice…

The Cortana sitting in front of the Master Chief was far different from the disembodied voice that resided inside his helmet so long ago. And for that reason, the Master Chief wanted to be around her more.

His mind drifted back to the night at the apartment. It was that single thought that still remained in his head, and had remained so for so long. The Spartan wanted to talk to Cortana more, have a more casual conversation with her, something other than ones about tactics or warfare.

The Master Chief had the chance now, but he could not find the words to say. Worse, his current lack of action was leaving an uneasy silence between the two.

Sets of footsteps then approached, and several individuals walked in. Looking towards them, the Master Chief turned to greet Stacker, Rhineland, and Foley.

"Hey Chief," Foley greeted as he walked in, weakly waving a hand.

Of all the soldiers within Fist-Alpha, Foley was hit the hardest in the aftermath of Hawkins's betrayal. They obeyed Hawkins's wishes, however, to let Foley lead Fist-Alpha, and Foley reluctantly did so. So far, he was unconfident with his abilities to lead, but Foley was an effective soldier underneath, and was being supplemented by Stacker.

Stacker was becoming a huge aid to Fist-Alpha. He was far too old to fight on the battlefield, but what he lacked in youthful strength, he made up for in tactical intellect. He helped to plan and coordinate operations that would be made into the city, as well as deal with moral and training at base.

"Anything new?' Cortana asked the new arrivals.

"The attack was successful, Cathy," Stacker explained. "We've damaged a few Covenant facilities within the area, and Rhineland here has taken note of several fine locations that would make excellent sniper and observation posts."

"Been to them myself," Rhineland said in response to Stacker's explanation. "They overlook the arcology and the surrounding areas for around two klicks, so we can set a few guys there to keep a lookout, and to plick a few of them off when we're on the offence."

It was good news overall. Stacker's advice regarding tactics and training, as well as Rhineland's skill helped greatly.

"While you guys were out there," Foley then spoke up, his voice quiet and sorrowed. "I had some business to look after."

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag and handed it to Stacker. Contained inside was a pair of rusted dog tags with the name, HAWKINS GERALD E, stamped onto the metal. Foley kept his gaze low, while Stacker looked on in sadness.

"That bastard Ackerson was telling the truth," Foley angrily said. "The body was all decomposed, but our quick test came back positive – the Covies did kill Hawkins's daughter."

A thick silence filled the room, as all eyes gazed upon the rusted pair of dog tags.

"Well, what now?" Rhineland finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I know it sounds hasty, but we've got to step up the attacks," Foley replied. "It's either hit them harder wherever we can, or make a direct hit."

Stacker turned his attention from the dog tags to Foley, raising an eyebrow after hearing Foley's last comment.

"A direct hit?"

Foley walked over to the map next to Cortana and pointed a finger straight at the centre of the city. His face was straight and serious – Foley was not just suggesting an idea, he was pushing it forward.

"We've got to take the arcology."

A brief moment of shock passed over the others, the Master Chief in particular. Even _he_ wasn't thinking of such a move just yet. The Master Chief had to hand it to Foley though – he had guts to be thinking of doing that.

"And how would you plan on doing THAT?" Stacker replied, dumbstruck over Foley's battle plan. "We get within thirty yards of it and get fried."

Foley scratched his head, trying to think of something to support his planning. The arcology was heavily defended, not just by legions of Covenant troops, but a system of automated defenses that opened fire on anything not Covenant that got too close. To even come close to attacking the arcology would be a Herculaneum task worthy of legend.

"I don't know, but it's a start at least. Have you found anything we can use Cathy, anything that's even remotely related to the arcology or the Covenant?"

"Well, let me check."

Cortana got up from the table and walked to a shelf, where she quickly scanned the spines of various books and binders. The Master Chief watched on, almost chuckling as he watched Cortana look from book to book for what she needed. She reminded him of a librarian, and in some way, Cortana even looked the part.

Cortana was definitely much different from the AI she used to be.

"Where'd you get this idea anyways?" Rhineland asked.

"When we were dug up Olivia's grave," Foley explained, speaking in an uncomfortable tone. "We also found…others."

"Others?" Rhineland asked uneasily.

"We found mass graves." Foley said, bluntly. "After the defeat of the UNSC thirty-five years back, the Covies rounded up a certain number of humans up and put them into this city, and the others who didn't make the cut were brought out to part of the city outside of their established area and executed them."

The Master Chief grimaced at the thought of what appeared to have happened. He couldn't imagine the thought of hundreds of thousands of humans being dragged out there, only to be killed by the hands of humanity's most brutal and deadliest enemy.

"When we found them, the guys who were with me just fell apart," Foley continued. "One guy lost the will to fight, another was unresponsive during the discovery and trip back, and another tried to kill himself.

"The point is, this war we're fighting has gone on for a long time, and I'm not sure how much longer the guys can last. That mass grave we found is going to be a huge hit on our moral, to know that the Covies did that to us and could easily to it again."

Stacker folded his arms, his face grim and unaffected by the idea of it.

"Don't worry about it, Foley. The Covies murdered a lot of our people, and we can turn that sadness into rage, and make 'em pay for what they've done to humanity."

"I'm hoping," Foley responded. "Either way, we need to do something big, something that could either be taken as a symbol, or something to produce results, and if we can coordinate a large enough attack and take the arcology, I think we have a chance."

"Got it!" Cortana shouted in triumph as she took a binder off a shelf and laid it down on the table.

"This binder has all the information ever recorded regarding the arcology since the Covenant landed" Cortana explained as she opened the binder and flipped through the pages inside.

Foley picked it up and flipped through it, looking at the pages in surprise from the sheer amount of information that it contained.

"Since when did we have this?" he asked, not remembering that such a resource even existed.

"It's been here for quite awhile, but I put it together in order two days ago," Cortana replied with a smile on her face, clearly proud of her organizational skills.

Foley continued to flip through, trying to absorb all the information on the pages. He then stopped at one page, staring at it continuously with interest.

"Cortana, what's this? It looks like a Shadow, but it's larger and better armoured."

Looking over, Cortana instantly recognized what the page was for.

"Oh, that. That's not armour, Foley."

Stepping up beside Foley, the Master Chief looked at the same page. A rough drawing of a Covenant vehicle filled the page. As Foley suggested, it did resemble a Shadow, but it was certainly larger and more bulbous. If anything, it looked like a larger variant of a Shadow.

But the interesting thing was, however, the lack of weapon hard points, as well as a cockpit of any kind. As far as what the drawing was displaying, it was a large and defenseless bug-like vehicle.

"If it ain't armour, then what is it?" Foley asked in response to Cortana.

"These vehicles are automated, and they move from the arcology, out past the wall and into the outside ruins and back again," Cortana explained, pointing to the map from around the position of the base to the arcology. "Those things aren't armoured at all – a single burst from a Battle Rifle would pierce its hull quite easily, but that would be a terrible thing."

"Terrible?" Foley asked in confusion.

"Just read the case report" Cortana replied.

Foley flipped through and found the report. He quickly skimmed through it, picking up the general points of the report. His eyes then widened in horror.

"What the-? Holy shit!"

Stacker and Rhineland walked towards him and looked at the report as well. Their responses were almost the exact same.

"What's wrong?" the Master Chief asked.

"These things are ferrying Covenant shit!" Elias screamed in sickness.

"Seriously, Elias, what are they carrying?" the Master Chief asked, again, in response to Elias's apparent overreaction.

"No, Chief, it actually is Covenant shit," Cortana replied, her language much to the surprise of the Master Chief. "These vehicles are loaded back at the arcology with Covenant fecal matter, and are sent outside to dump them. The case report was a record of a squad that mistaken one as a Shadow and began opening fire on it."

"And then the entire thing ruptured and showered them with steamy bits of Covenant shit," Elias finished. "Then again, these things do go straight into the arcology. We've got free transportation pretty much."

Stacker took a step back, looking at Foley with a disbelieved look.

"Hold on, Foley, are you suggesting we sneak our guys into the arcology with those things?"

Foley paused for a moment, looking back at the image of the vehicle.

"Maybe. Actually, no, not all of us, but a small few," Foley continued, trying to think of his plan on the fly. "That's it – we sneak a small force of soldiers inside using this…shit wagon, and disrupt the Covies from the inside and find a way to disable the automated defenses, and let the others attack from the front."

Stacker remained quiet as the plan sunk into his head, as did everybody else. It had potential, but there were still some points that needed to be considered. First off, how well defended was the interior of the arcology, as opposed to the outside? Then, there was the consideration of how to even disable the defenses.

"Trojan Horse pretty much?" Rhineland responded, taking note of Foley's plan. "It might work. All we'd need to do is figure out what's on the inside, and then organize the offensive. I'm with you with this plan."

"Alright, hold on both of you," Stacker interrupted. "First off, the plan is a good idea, but we've got so little to work with. How would we even find on what's on the inside? Then, how are we going to attack it? Then what about the Covenant capital ship, and the small Covenant fleet that orbits the rest of the planet? There's still a hell of a lot of things to consider."

"Actually, not really," Cortana replied as she reached for another binder, taking it and laying it open on the table. "We've got the construction blueprints to the arcology – every floor and detail necessary. At the same time, there's still more information we can consider into the planning as well."

Cortana reached for yet another binder, opening it up and displaying the diagrams drawn inside its pages.

"For example, I've discovered, based off of Covenant transmissions, a communications network hub that sits somewhere in the arcology that could send messages for details to the other ships. I'm thinking we can use this to our advantage."

"Well, we could always spam 'em to death" Foley jokingly said.

"I was thinking we'd upload a virus from this hub and let it infect the ships and maybe disable them. If I'm given enough time, I could do some coding and get something together to do that."

Stacker remained silent as the ideas gathered. Within moments, everybody sat down and began throwing ideas around. The Master Chief remained silent as he listened to the ideas. The planning intensified, and it was beyond the point of just a simple idea.

It was the beginning of a mission.

* * *

End Note: This chapter was a combination of the old draft's Chapter 9, as well as with some other material. It focuses on 'Yuteryi, and here is where he begins to question his loyalty. I had a similar bit to the old Chapter, but I made his anger more directed as a result of the things happening around him - him failing the last few missions and him ordering the bombing run when he was told not to use such assets. At the same time, I included a bit with the Prophets, for the sake of foreshadowing. Needless to say, they're up to something, and I've managed to tie the 'changing of the guard' scenes from Halo 2 and 'Yuteryi questioning his loyalty to it. The Prophet's conversation will also be referenced later in the future, particularly the name they mention...(okay, too much info there...) 

Also, I changed the name of the structure, I called 'The Codex' to 'The Compendium.' I did so after watching the machinima series The Codex, and I felt...uneasy about using the name in my fic, so I changed it. Besides, come to think about it, I like 'compendium' more than I do 'codex.'

Well, this concludes the first of the updated rewritten chapters, updated as of April. 13th, 2006. I hope everybody has enjoyed them thus far. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll get to work on the next chapter, a rewriting of the massive attack on the Covenant. If it goes to plan, it will be the longest and most intricate chapter yet, dwarfing its old draft equivalent. It will take me awhile, but I will hope I can get it done as soon as possible.

Until next time...whenever the hell that might be.


	13. Retaliation

_**Eve of Fate **_

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 12: Retaliation

The Master Chief looked over the map of the city once more. This was actually the third map they've used up in the last week or so, this one nearing the end of its life. Red marks, writing, and small notes covered almost every square inch of it.

It took only a week of planning and coordination, and another to gather supplies. What had began as just a suggestion by Foley now turned into the final preparations for the largest assault by Fist-Alpha to date.

Their target was the arcology, the centre of Covenant power on Earth. If they were successful in taking it, the result would be an all out victory for humanity over their greatest enemy.

Walking out of the command centre, the Master Chief made his way to the assembly area, connected right to the tunnel that doubled as their entrance and exit. Due to space limitations with the base itself, any amount of space anywhere was used to house and distribute equipment.

Tables were set up all around with weapons and ammunition covering them. The soldiers grabbed whatever they could and moved out, walking down the long tunnel to their positions. Those doing so were covered head to toe in heavy combat armour, and carried an almost inordinate amount of ammunition and weaponry. Those moving out were to be attacking the arcology head on, and they needed all they could take.

"Are your snipers in position, Rhineland?" the Master Chief asked as he walked up to Rhineland, who was sitting next to a crate cleaning his rifle.

"Yep, and we've got clear line-of-sight all the way to the arcology" the sniper replied. Rhineland's sniper division was already deployed, providing intelligence for the attack force. They would also be ready to provide sniper fire when the attack commenced.

Amongst the crowds of soldiers, Foley and Stacker squeezed through and walked up to the Spartan and Rhineland. Both Stacker and Foley were leading the attack, but only Stacker remained at base. Foley wanted to join the fight as well, and there wasn't any method of convincing him otherwise.

"Are both of you ready for this?" Foley asked, his voice laced with anticipation for the fight to come.

"I was 'ready' a week ago," Rhineland replied. He then loaded a magazine and cocked his sniper rifle. "Now, I'm beyond ready."

The preparations continued, until the base was occupied only by a handful of soldiers. There were only two dozen of them, excluding the Master Chief and Foley, as well as the command staff. They gathered in the tunnel for the final preparations and last reviews of the mission.

They had gone over the plan hundreds of times by now, making sure that everything had to go in order and according to time. The attack would begin by the two dozen, including the Master Chief and Foley, infiltrating the arcology using the Covenant waste disposal vehicles, dubbed 'shit wagons' by the soldiers. Thanks to the maps and design schematics, as well as being able to sneak remote cameras into the arcology, Fist-Alpha knew what to expect once inside.

After the infiltration, they were to plant C-10 explosive charges on a trio of generators located underground, as well as directly below the Covenant defensive lines around the outside of the arcology. The generators powered a series of automated plasma guns that would otherwise prevent any type of attack from the outside. It was imperative that the guns were to be taken offline – the rest of the Fist-Alpha, as well as an entire army of civilians and others dedicated to the mission, would be torn to pieces.

Once the explosives were planted, their next objective was a central communications terminal. The terminal was a hub for all Covenant communications between their commanding personnel at the arcology and everything else around Earth and back at their home world. When they reached it, they were to upload a virus using the terminal. The virus was a creation of Cortana, meticulously pieced together using coding she was able to improvise with. Given the circumstances, it seemed impossible to do such a task, but Cortana still came out on top. Her virus, when sent to the other Covenant ships, would disable their shielding and internal systems, thus rendering them unable to launch Phantoms or Banshees, or to deploy troops. It would provide at least an hour or two of which the attacking force could then overpower the Covenant forces at the arcology.

The objective was the capital ship stationed over the arcology. The plan was to take the ship, and use it against the other disabled Covenant vessels orbiting the planet. After that, the city and the rest of the planet would be under complete human control.

The plan sounded easy, but there was still much more to consider. The arcology was guarded by legions of Covenant soldiers, in particular, the generators and the communications terminal. The first part required stealth, which was why only two dozen were selected. The soldiers weren't concerned – they had all the silenced weapons necessary and were veterans in the fight against the Covenant forces.

But there was also the consideration about the virus, whether or not it would upload correctly. While the combat was best left to the hands of the soldiers and the Master Chief himself, the responsibility of the virus was left to Cortana.

It troubled the Master Chief quite a lot.

It would mean bringing Cortana into the battle and escorting her into the fight. He had already tried to convince Cortana not to go, but she wouldn't let herself be persuaded. They needed the virus, and if something went wrong, she would be there to fix it and get it working. Her reasoning made sense, but the Master Chief didn't want to endanger her.

He walked past the assembled soldiers and towards the changing rooms. It was empty inside, with the exception of one. As he walked in, the Master Chief spotted Cortana. She was disrobed, and was in the process of sliding on a pair of combat fatigues. Her small, diminutive, and slender frame looked most inappropriate to fight a battle with. When Cortana finished, she turned around and smiled at the Spartan.

"You're here to convince me not to go again, right Chief?"

"Are you sure about going?" the Master Chief asked. "There going to be a lot of Covenant on the inside, and I don't want you to get caught in the firefight."

"Chief, if I don't go, and something goes wrong with the virus the entire mission will be for nothing. What if something goes wrong? What if the virus doesn't upload, what if the Covenant put in another layer of security? You'll need me there if that happens."

The Master Chief hated her argument – because it made sense. There was the chance something would go wrong inside, and she needed to be there. Cortana was firm on her stance, and there wasn't anything to argue to get her to do otherwise.

"Chief, can you help me?" she asked, pointing towards the bulky combat armour and protective equipment next to her. The Spartan nodded.

The Master Chief picked up the armour and helped to fit it onto Cortana. He was careful to use only a fraction of his strength to secure it onto her body, or else be faced with the possibility of squeezing Cortana to death. The process seemed quite awkward, but the Master Chief finished up and helped Cortana for only a moment as she slipped into the outer 'protection' suit.

The protection suit was a development made for the purpose of infiltrating the arcology using the waste disposal vehicles. It was essentially an armoured hazmat suit, fitted with layers of protective material and plating. While it capable of protection against plasma, its primary purpose was to protect the user during the infiltration. The soldiers weren't so sure about sitting knee deep in it, due to both their dignity and their general health.

After helping Cortana to put the suit on, she then pulled another layer over top of that. It was an expandable outer layer, to be taken off and discarded once inside. Seeing how after the infiltration in the storage tank of waste disposal vehicle the suit would be covered in residue, the outer layer would then be taken off, leaving the soldiers with clean, and especially odour free, equipment.

"You're ready" the Master Chief told Cortana, who finished by tying her hair up in a ponytail.

"Wait, Chief, you ought to put this on" Cortana then said, lifting up an outer layer like the one she had over top of her suit.

"Don't worry, my MJOLNIR should be able to hold, and the shielding will keep the material off the plates."

Cortana then giggled as she continued to press the layer at the Master Chief's chest.

"It'll keep the shit off you, but not the smell, and frankly, I want you to be at least presentable after we're done in there."

"Oh, right."

Cortana then helped the Master Chief into the layer. It was quick, but something inside the Master Chief felt awkward. Being around Cortana was still going to take some getting used to. After they finished up, the pair walked out of the changing room. As they walked along, the Master Chief spotted a figure walking out of a hallway and towards them.

"Here to wish us good luck, Connor?" Cortana asked, smiling at the teenager.

Connor remained silent for a moment as he eyed Cortana in the suit. The Master Chief had heard very little out of Connor ever since the retreat from the apartment and to the Fist-Alpha base. He was almost a ghost now, lingering around old and impossible memories. The Spartan knew of Connor's resistance to the war and the fighting, and having him here was somewhat abrogating to the fighting effort.

"Connor?" Cortana asked again.

"You shouldn't go."

If the Master Chief, Stacker, and Foley's initial reaction to Cortana's decision was simple shock, Connor's reaction was outrage. Words couldn't even describe how hard he had tried to tell Cortana that she couldn't go. He pleaded with her endlessly, but nothing could be done.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Foley asked impatiently as he walked up to the group, nothing that it was comprised of Cortana, the Master Chief, and Connor. He was already ready to go, all dressed in his protective gear and outer layers.

"Can't you get Cathy to stay?" Connor asked Foley. Foley responded by shrugging his shoulders.

"She's not staying, that's for sure. Besides, we might need her inside, so I don't have much of a problem with her going."

Connor narrowed his eyes angrily at Foley.

"So you _want_ her to go? You want her to go into a war zone and get shot at? Aren't you thinking anything at all about her safety?"

"Hey, guess what kid?" Foley replied, his tone of voice steadily growing more agitated. "Do you have any idea why we're doing out there, any idea why we go out and fight? We've got a war waging out there, and we need everybody we could to win, and if you've got a problem with it, you'd might as well sod off, get your whining ass out of our base and be on your way.

"Otherwise, I suggest you either shut up or pick up a weapon and stand a post."

Connor remained silent, while Foley angrily glared at him. They both hated each other and frequently exchanged jabs and insults. In this new meeting, Foley got the better of Connor, who then turned around and left.

"Good luck, Cathy" he said, his voice barely a whisper, just before he left.

"Wait, Connor!" Cortana cried out, trying to get him to understand.

"Leave him, Cortana, he'll ease off in a bit," Foley said, stopping her. "Come on, the guys are ready."

The Master Chief put a hand on Cortana's shoulder, coaxing her to let Connor be and continue with the mission. She stepped away and met with the others as they gathered their weapons and ammunition.

The Master Chief picked up his Battle Rifle, fitted with a silencer and grenade launcher, as well as an SMG, also grabbing ammunition, grenades, and shotgun shells for the launcher. At his belt he clipped on the Covenant energy sword. The Master Chief felt he might possibly need it while inside the arcology.

"Locked and loaded!" a soldier yelled as he cocked his weapon.

Foley grabbed an SMG fitted with a silencer and holographic sighting module, as well as an M90 shotgun with the stock sawed off. The other soldiers carried a wide variety of weapons, mostly silenced, as well as a handful of heavier weapons to be used when the infiltration part was complete. All their weapons were sealed inside plastic bags, to protect and cover them during the ride into the arcology.

Cortana equipped for herself an SMG and an M6C sidearm, both fitted with silencers. Unlike the other soldiers, she lacked the physical strength to carry a full combat load, but then again, she was going in as a non-combatant, there only to supervise the delivery of the virus. In addition to her load out, she also carried a PDA.

Other equipment was also carried – spare ammo, ropes, the explosives, all the rest – and divided up between the teams. Some of the other soldiers had PDA's with them as well for navigation and translation, and a pair of soldiers carried the virus on theirs.

"Alright, we're set to go" Foley said, as he finished double checking his weapons.

As they prepared to leave, Stacker came out of the command centre with his cadre of supporting individuals. The look in his eyes was feigned – he didn't want to think about Cortana going with them into battle.

"I'll keep in touch and provide any tactical data via Cathy's PDA," he said, keeping to his duty as intelligence and command. "We've got the first shit wagon in-bound, fifteen minutes."

Stacker paused for a moment, looking at the assembled group of soldiers about to embark on a mission so daring and so crucial to the future of humanity.

"I would normally say 'good luck,' but luck doesn't have anything to do with this," Stacker then said. He paused again, as though trying to remember the faces of all those about to go into battle.

"Do us all one favour: give 'em hell."

* * *

Rhineland moved along the streets with around a dozen others following him. They entered in the back of a building and quickly made it to the upper levels of the building, where several others were already set up. Sniper rifles were set up on their bipods along with camouflage nets and boxes of ammunition. 

The sun was just setting in the far distance. Its rays of orange and yellow light gave way to the end of the day and into the process of night. For the soldiers, it was the end of an era, the end of an occupation that has cost them so many lives.

"What's the news?" Rhineland asked the first soldier he spotted. The soldier was crouched behind a slab of concrete with a spotter's scope in hand, looking out towards the arcology.

"Nothing new so far," he reported. "The Covies are fortified, as usual."

Raising a pair of binoculars, Rhineland looked across at the Covenant defensive lines set up around the arcology. The giant four sided pyramidal structure was built on top of a platform that stood at least thirty meters high. Its actual height was disguised by the long sloping ramp that stretched from the peak of the platform to the actual ground. Along the ramp were at least four layers of obstructions, small walls, and Covenant defensive lines. In front of the ramp, as well as in the areas in between the peak of the ramp and the arcology were even more defensive lines.

Due to the shape of the pyramid, there were four sides of which the attack would concentrate on, all corresponding to the cardinal directions. Each of the four sides of the arcology was actually its own building, an aerial view from the top would have offered a distinctive view of the plus sign shaped path, with each quadrant being each section of the arcology. In the centre of the path that divided the separate buildings of the arcology was a gravity lift that was connected with the Covenant capital ship above them. Fist-Alpha had pulled together practically everybody in the city and now had an army able to encircle the entire structure. In addition to the four sides of attack, there were the four teams of snipers to cover each side. Rhineland was on the North side, and other teams waited in the other three direction.

The magnitude of Covenant troops patrolling the defensive lines wasn't the problem. Rhineland adjusted his binoculars and took noticed of the network of Covenant plasma guns and turrets, mixtures of retrofitted Shade turrets and some of the newer plasma cannons. The automated guns would easily make short work of any attack on the arcology.

"Rhineland, we've spotted around a dozen Ghosts circling the area, as well as a few Spectres and four Wraiths."

The Covenant had deployed a small group of vehicles to help protect the area. It wasn't a lot, but the rotating patrol of vehicles would be a threat later on. His stomach churned for a moment. Rhineland realized again that this attack was going to be big, and they were going to met heavy resistance. There wasn't going to be an easy way out – they just had to fight harder to win.

"All snipers - check ammo and rifles, and mark targets," Rhineland softly ordered over his radio. "Do _not_ open fire until we can verify that the Master Chief and his entry team have succeeded."

Rhineland's trigger finger twitched as he picked up his rifle. He swapped off the scope in favour of one fitted with night vision, for this mission. Peering out at the arcology, he almost couldn't wait until the attack would begin.

* * *

There wasn't a method of describing how the inside of the Covenant waste disposal vehicle actually smelt like. Then again, there were the simple and more direct words. 

"This thing smells like _shit_" a soldier complained.

"That's the fifth time you've said that" Foley replied.

The Master Chief said nothing as he sat still. The inside of the disposal vehicle was cramped and the hull was quite thin. The structure was surprisingly strong, but it took only a few seconds with a welding arc to rip a doorway open on the hull. Now, they simply sat inside and waited.

"We're fifty metres from the arcology" Cortana reported as she checked her PDA.

The soldiers inside got anxious. Some tapped on their weapons, while others peered around the disposal vehicle in a desperate attempt to wade off their anxiety.

"This is the closest I've ever gotten to it," a soldier then said, his voice shaking. "The closest any of us have ever without being shot at by the guns."

The Master Chief rested a hand on the soldier to calm him down.

"We'll be fine. We'll be inside before you know it. Just calm down and don't think about it."

The soldier calmed down for a moment. The others took heed of the Master Chief's advice. Other than the commanders, such as Stacker, or the soldiers like Rhineland or Foley, the soldiers viewed the Master Chief as an older mentor and hero. It was the Spartan's presence that gave them hope and strength to continue fighting.

Looking over to Cortana, sitting opposite of him, the Master Chief hoped she was going to be alright. Unlike the others, she was practically oblivious to where they were heading into. Cortana sat modestly, her gaze locked onto the glowing screen of her PDA. Behind the blue reflection of Cortana's helmet visor, the Master Chief could not make out her icy blue eyes.

She had certainly come a long way from an AI construct to human.

Minutes passed as the disposal vehicle rolled along uneventfully. It was the hardest part of the mission – the long wait. The usual silence was then broken by Cortana's voice.

"We're in."

She pressed a series of buttons on her PDA, switching to the external cameras they had fitted on the disposal vehicle just before they got on. The screen on her PDA changed, evident by the flash of colours reflecting off Cortana's helmet.

"What are we seeing?" Foley asked, shuffling closer to Cortana.

"Covenant patrols inside the arcology." Cortana tiled the screen enough so Foley could see. She then pressed another button, and a new video stream appeared on the Master Chief's heads-up-display. A small team, consisting of an Elite with a pair of Jackals and multiple Grunts lazily strolled along.

"How many?" a soldier asked, hoping for the best.

"A lot," Cortana replied. "A hell of a lot of Covenant."

A few curses disheartened moans were heard throughout the disposal vehicle. Foley angrily waved a hand, shutting the soldiers up for good. They were inside the arcology now, and they needed to be silent.

The disposal vehicle was moving down a long and wide tunnel. Originally, it was a sewer tunnel for the arcology, meant to transfer waste and garbage to a disposal site of some sort far from the structure. High above, along the sides of the tunnel were various levels of walkways with Covenant soldiers on patrol. Their motions suggested they were not too pleased to be stationed in this section of the arcology.

"This is just the entrance, the interior underground should be less guarded" Cortana said, reassuring the soldiers.

The disposal vehicle dragged along. It was a nearly undetermined amount of time before it rolled to a stop. The vehicle shuddered as it slowed down, and then dropped to the ground, its anti-gravitational generators shutting down. The soldiers sighed with relief, knowing that they could now leave the smelly and grimy vehicle.

"It's clear outside" Cortana reported.

Foley pointed a finger towards the entrance they ripped open. A soldier removed the plate of metal and slid out, the others quickly following. The Master Chief was the second last to leave, just in front of Cortana.

The area was dark, and there was very little space to move around in. The disposal vehicle had parked itself inside a small lot, where machinery then hooked up to the top of it. This was the disposal area, where the waste was redirected to the vehicles and loaded there until ready for transport.

"We're clear."

The group of soldiers began to move, putting distance between themselves and the confines of the disposal area. Cortana pulled up a series of maps and diagrams on her PDA and highlighted the path for them. They moved onwards, until they were at least three or four floors above the disposal area.

"We're here – generators are farther into the arcology," Cortana pointed out. "And the service tunnels under the Covenant defensive lines are in the opposite direction."

As she reported the directions of their objectives, the soldiers stripped off the first layers of their suits and stashed them away out of sight and smell. They then removed their weapons from the plastic wraps and readied them. The Master Chief did so as well, and Cortana was able to set her PDA down for long enough to do the same.

The soldiers looked almost like softer, miniature and fluffier versions of the Master Chief, complete with full sized helmets and armour. They needed as much protection necessary while inside the arcology. Some of the soldiers, particularly Foley, as well as Cortana, opted not to wear a helmet. Whether it was for the sake of convenience as it was for Cortana, or simply bravado in Foley's case, the Master Chief could not tell.

"Are the service tunnels guarded?" Foley asked, checking his SMG's magazine.

"No, they're empty as far as I can tell" Cortana replied, quickly checking her PDA.

Foley rounded up and ordered six soldiers to move down the service tunnels. They all had their maps, and they knew where to plant the charges.

"You guys take the tunnels and plant your charges, the Chief, myself, Cortana, and the others will take the generators. Meet back at rally point 2 when you're done."

The soldiers said nothing, instead nodding and proceeding along with their work. There were four teams of six at work now – three planting charges at the generators, and one to disrupt the Covenant defensive lines.

"Lead the way Cortana" Foley said.

Updating the map on her PDA, Cortana picked out the best path and oriented herself towards it.

"Follow me."

* * *

"Please, be careful! The computer systems are quite fragile!" 

'Jeryima raised his hands and screamed in worry as the Grunts lifted the large and heavy computer devices from the compartments of the Shadow troop transports. The machines were vital for the extraction of data from the Compendium, but they were also infamously fragile.

"Careful now! See? It isn't too hard" he said happily as the Grunts succeeded in lifting the first of the machines and began to slowly move it towards the base camp.

"Why do you care so much? They are just giant pieces of computers that we could have flown in if needed."

Turning around, 'Jeryima almost collapsed as he was met with the sight of 'Yuteryi and his mechanical eye. The former commander stood next to him, his arms folded over his chest and his plasma rifle hung low on his chest. If 'Jeryima was to guess, he was not having a great time.

"Yes, but we would still be required to carry the machines deep into the Compendium to seek out the Forerunner's knowledge," 'Jeryima replied. "So there isn't much difference, except having them here and now."

'Yuteryi did nothing but grunt as he moved along. The human sun had set in the distance moments ago, leaving only artificial lights to brighten the surroundings of the Covenant base camp. He had actually spent the last parts of the day in his newly established quarters, and only came out now to 'help' supervise the moving of the heavier equipment.

It wasn't more of help, than it was 'Yuteryi trying to find something to do. Every moment that has passed since his dismissal was agitating him more and more. He yearned to be with his troops, to be in command of warriors, and to be fighting – and defeating – the human insurgents.

Instead, he was supervising alongside an Abnormal at a place he would really care less about.

'Yuteryi walked around the base camp. It was of an uneven shape with large barracks and personal quarters strewn about, built around an entrance the mining vehicles had made, leading to the apparent location of The Compendium. There was a sizable amount of soldiers stationed at the base camp, but in the end, it was mostly inhabited by the Engineers and the others working to excavate the site.

"'Yuteryi, come quick!" 'Jeryima called enthusiastically for the warrior. "The entrance to The Compendium has been opened!"

It wasn't like 'Yuteryi had another choice. He probably had to go anyways. Following the smaller Abnormal through the rest of the camp, 'Yuteryi then came upon where the entrance was made. To his shock, it was much…bigger than he had originally imagined.

The wide, gaping maw that was its doorway was large, large enough to fit several Wraith mortar tanks side by side and on top of each other and still have room for troops to move about. The fact that it was also buried underground, and the area surrounding it was carved away into a gentle sloping cone dipping towards the entrance made it only appear larger.

"Isn't that fascinating?" 'Jeryima asked, admiring the ruins. "To know that a civilization had constructed such a structure, and left it here to be found!"

For the first time in a long time, 'Yuteryi found himself agreeing. It certainly was an amazing piece of work. It reminded him of his youth, when he used to enjoy reading about the various excavations made on Forerunner buildings. In some degree, 'Yuteryi at his youth was probably no different from the Abnormal that currently stood next to him.

"By the Gods, can you see the distinct ziggurat construction of the entrance frame? They are constructed exactly according to the Perfected Ratio! Look at the carvings that adore the sides of the walls – etched into the material at exactly the same degree as all other Forerunner carvings have been in the past!"

On second thought, 'Yuteryi wasn't the same as 'Jeryima – at all, at any specific time in the past.

The entrance was already opened, evident by the crews already down by the entry, and machinery was being moved inside. The two Elites joined the crews at the base of the excavation site and began to slowly enter into the structure.

"Can you smell the air, 'Yuteryi?" 'Jeryima asked, inhaling. "It is quite hard to believe that this same air we are breathing is several ages old, and was also breathed by the same individuals that built this structure. It is like walking back in time!"

'Yuteryi threw a look at the Abnormal, not the usual threatening gaze, but instead, a confused, 'are you out of your mind?' look. It was really no wonder the Abnormals were viewed upon with such spite – they truly were stupid.

Once inside, the Engineers began to spread out, with teams of Grunts and Jackals close by. 'Jeryima went off, amidst his babbling, to help aid in the excavation. 'Yuteryi walked off alone. He felt he needed some time for himself. What better way to get it, other than to walk alone into an alien structure?

As he strolled along, he switched on his eye's light amplification mode and examined his surroundings, the darkness of the inside cloaking the details of the interior. Sadly, the details were minimal. Nothing adorned the walls, nothing was laid upon on the ground – there was absolutely _nothing_ inside the Compendium.

This was a waste of time.

Suddenly, something appeared on 'Yuteryi's display. Something was moving. He had barely any time to react before he had caught full sight of it. Something emerged from the floor but scant metres in front of him. As it fully came into sight, he realized it was a new doorway. It was emerged almost seamlessly from the smooth floor.

'Yuteryi activated another vision mode, peering through the floor and into the areas beyond where he was. It led deeper into the Compendium, for sure.

"Over here, I have found something!" 'Yuteryi shouted as he turned to face the others.

Only, they weren't there anymore.

'Yuteryi looked around in shock. He didn't walk _that_ far, did he? The entrance was practically right behind him, as well as all the others. Now, he was surrounded only by the darkness. He carefully armed his plasma rifle and checked the area. There had to be some type of logical explanation for this. As 'Yuteryi looked back at the new doorway that appeared from the floor, he then recoiled back in shock.

There was a human in the Compendium!

'Yuteryi had only looked upon the new figure for but a brief moment, but the small shape and frame suggested this one was human. Raising his plasma rifle, he slowly walked down through the doorway and into the new level beneath it. Strangely, the human was no longer in sight. Switching vision modes, 'Yuteryi was shocked yet again to find that there was nothing. It was as though there had been nothing there just prior.

Was 'Yuteryi simply imagining it? Was there really a human?

'Yuteryi quietly cursed at himself. Perhaps it was just his now overactive imagination. But still, the billowing white robes this human wore seemed simply too real to be just a product of his imagination. Turning around, 'Yuteryi found himself in shock yet again.

The opening was gone.

He was trapped.

* * *

Foley was the first to exit the tunnel, followed by another soldier and then the Master Chief. Exiting through the now opened grating, the soldiers scanned their area for hostiles. 

"Clear."

Cortana crawled out after them, quickly pulling out her PDA to confirm their location.

"Out the door and down the hall to our left" she reported.

The two dozen had split into four teams of six – one headed for the service tunnels to plant their charges beneath the Covenant defensive lines, and the last three would each take one of the three primary generators.

Foley, the Master Chief, and Cortana were all on one team, and they had tracked down their generator. The interior of the arcology was guarded to a lesser degree than what was originally anticipated. The guards they had encountered so far were almost too easy to subdue.

When they reached the door, Foley and another soldier were the first to enter. The generator room was large – both wide and tall. A single walkway circled around the walls of the room, with the generator in the middle. The generator itself was Covenant in design, brought in possibly at the same time as when the Covenant occupied the city.

"Clear, no guards inside the generator room."

"This is too easy," a soldier commented, looking around in degrees of confusion and fear. "Something's wrong, the Covies are probably waiting for us, or something."

Cortana checked her PDA once more, pulling up relevant information and floor plans. There wasn't anything she could use, but she was reassuring, at least.

"If I had to guess, they may be on rotating patrols, and if so, we've got to hurry."

Foley nodded, and pointed towards the railing at the edge of the walkway. A pair of soldiers went forward and dropped the ropes in place and secured them in place. They then slung their weapons over their back and rappelled down them. Foley also joined them, taking with him his share of the explosives to set in place. This left the Master Chief, Cortana, and another soldier to watch over them.

"I've got a transmission from the other teams," Cortana reported again from her PDA. "They've reached their targets and are planting their charges as planned. The latest news from Stacker also suggests that the attacking forces are ready. The only thing they're waiting for is us."

"That's good, we're right on time then" the Master Chief replied.

Down below, Foley and the two others were at work attaching the C-10 shaped charges onto the generator's coolant pumps. When they detonated, the lack of coolant being supplied to the generator would eventually force it to destabilize, and from there, they would detonate themselves.

"We're almost done, just a few more minutes" Foley reported.

Suddenly, the Master Chief then picked up something on his motion sensor. There was a squad of Covenant approaching their way.

"We've got Covenant, incoming!" the Master Chief warned.

"We can't afford to be spotted, we've got to hide!" Cortana urged. If they were spotted, the entire mission would result in failure.

It was easier said than done, however. There was no place to hide, especially in the generator room. Looking over the edge, the Master Chief only saw one possible spot.

"Down the ropes and under the catwalk" the Master Chief ordered.

The catwalks were reinforced and strengthened quite a fair bit. It made sense – it was a long way down from the top to the very bottom, and the catwalks needed to be able to support great amounts of weight. The Master Chief helped Cortana and the other soldier over and onto the ropes before he got on. They then moved underneath the catwalks and clung onto the supports, also moving the ropes there and out of sight.

They had barely gotten into position and managed to warn Foley and the others down below when the doors opened and the sounds of footsteps echoed in the room.

"I can see an Elite with a whole bunch of little Grunts," Foley reported via radio from his view at the bottom of the room. "They're fanning out, standard patrolling positions."

"What's your status Foley? Are all the charges planted yet?" the Master Chief asked.

"We've got one more. Should we hold off until they're gone?"

"Negative, Foley," Cortana replied, cutting into the transmission. "We've got to get the last charge planted as soon as possible. It's risky, but somebody will have to do it."

It was a hard call, but it needed to be done. Speed was of the essence for the operation, and they needed to plant the explosive. Down below, the Master Chief could see Foley moving up the side of the generator and fixing on the explosive charge.

"Almost…there…got it!"

Foley waved a hand to the Master Chief. They were done. Now it was up to them to get to the rendezvous and link up with the others.

"Shit!"

Foley swore as he struggled to get off from the generator. In between his struggling, he had gotten stuck, and he had dropped his SMG. The solid clatter of the weapon slamming against the hard ground echoed throughout the entire generator room. The Elite up at the catwalks looked over the edge of the railing, trying to find the source of the sound.

"He's moving around," another soldier reported, his voice getting frantic. "Christ, he'll find you if you stay there!"

"I'm stuck, I can't move!" Foley struggled. His protection suit was punctured and was caught on a section of the generator. There was no way he would be able to get off in time before the Elite would spot him. If the Elite saw him, and radioed in for help, the entire mission was in jeopardy.

"Everybody, stay put," the Master Chief said as he moved into position. "I'm going to take the Elite out."

The other soldiers paused to try and comprehend what the Spartan was going to do, but only Cortana spoke out about it.

"Chief, are you crazy?"

"We've got no choice, it's either that Elite find Foley, or we can at least buy some time and try to salvage the mission."

The slow footsteps of the Elite sounded as the alien warrior passed over the Master Chief's position. The Master Chief waited until the Elite was past him before he got up and over the railing. As soon as he got onto the catwalk, the Master Chief moved quickly. The Spartan lunged forward and tackled the Elite, moving to the side as he did. His movement threw the Elite off balance towards the railing, their combined weight tearing through it and dragging them down below. The Elite cried out in surprise, while the Master Chief quickly threw a jab at its head. In midair, the Master Chief quickly concentrated his shields to his front, in order to take the brunt of the impact.

They both landed with a thick _thud_, with the sounds of bone crushing mixed in as well. The Elite squirmed only for a moment before it ceased all activity, a combination of the Master Chief's weight and his fist silencing the alien. His shields drained down to a quarter from the impact, but otherwise, he was fine.

The grunts were chattering and barking rapidly above them. Were they compromised? Were they going to have to call off the attack? The Master Chief quickly moved away and hid, hoping that it wasn't too late.

"Prepare to open fire, on my mark-"

"Wait, hold up, Chief!" Cortana interrupted.

The Master Chief looked up, noticing Cortana making hand signals to him, while pointing up above. The Grunts were moving and shouting at each other from above, but they eventually calmed down and resumed their patrol.

"What's going on? Cortana, explain."

"The Grunts don't care – as far as they're concerned, the Elite fell" Cortana explained.

"Are you sure?"

There was then a burst of static in the Master Chief's helmet, followed by an audio feed.

"_Where is leader!"_

"_Leader is dead! Leader is dead! Report to command!"_

"_Don't bother – leader _fell_, see, see?"_

"_But…"_

"_Me no care about leader! Should have pushed him off myself!"_

"_Hah, big blue leader thinks he so smart – he falls!"_

The audio feed then cut, leaving the Master Chief to the silence inside his helmet.

"Cortana, am I hearing exactly what I think I'm hearing?"

"You are," Cortana replied. "The Grunts don't care enough to raise an alarm, so we're safe."

It was reassuring, but the Master Chief was left in a state of absolute bewilderment. How could the Grunts not care about their leader being killed? Why would they shrug it off, as though it meant nothing?

Was the Covenant falling apart? Did their thirty-five year occupation of Earth have even greater side affects on their chain of command?

It was barely a second later before Foley ran up beside the Master Chief, panting and swearing quietly in the process. The Spartan was almost surprised to find that Foley had gotten rid of the protection suit, and was crouching next to him clad in his basic combat armour. He had found and now carried his customized SMG, and his sawed off shotgun was slung at his side.

"Foley, your suit…"

"Cut my way out of it," Foley grumbled. "Bitch got stuck on the generator."

Taking a good look at the side of the generator, the Master Chief could see the remains of Foley's protection suit. A jagged piece of metal had pierced the side of it and it prohibited any movement short of ripping it apart in the process.

"Without your suit, you'll take more damage."

"Yeah, but without my suit, I'm not sweating like nuts or a fat target for the Covies to shoot at" Foley corrected.

The Master Chief had to give credit to Foley – given the amount of fighting they would be expecting, Foley was awfully brave to be taking his suit off.

"How do we get out of here?" Foley asked.

"We can start by taking out the Grunts and getting to the rally point," the Master Chief said. "Fire on three…"

The Master Chief stopped when he saw Cortana waving to him from her position above. She pointed towards the far side of the generator room, and from there, the Master Chief could see the figures of the other two soldiers waving back.

"Foley, Chief, we found a tunnel opening, over here," one of the soldiers reported. "We've got it open, and it looks good."

A tunnel entrance? Why had they not noticed it before?

"Cortana, can that that tunnel get us to the rally point?"

"Hold on, I'll check" Cortana replied, pulling out her PDA.

Seconds passed by as Cortana inquired the maps.

"Hey, they do reach the rally point." Cortana's voice was shocked, but pleasantly surprised. "They're sewer lines, intended to transfer sewage from the inhabitants of the arcology to the outside or to processing, but since the Covenant have occupied the building, they don't use them."

"What about the rally point?"

"That's the best part," Cortana continued, her voice cheerful. "There's a ladder deeper into the tunnel that leads directly to the rally point. Our rally point was placed inside an abandoned storage room close to the communications terminal, and it has a sewer grate that leads into the sew line. Funny, I never noticed it."

A sewer line? It was good news. The Master Chief couldn't help but be amused that even Cortana, a meticulous planner and thinker, missed a minor detail on a map. Within moments, Cortana and the other soldier repelled down and everybody gathered and moved through the entrance and through the sewers. The sewers were tight and cramped, but on the plus side, they didn't smell as bad as the Covenant waste disposal vehicle. The Master Chief and Foley took point, with Cortana close by and the others following.

"Man, if I had three dollars for each time I had to walk through a damn sewer line" a soldier commented, several minutes after entering.

"Three dollars? Three _cents_ and I'm loaded!"

The Master Chief then held up a fist, signalling for everybody to stop. They had stopped right outside of T junction in the tunnel.

"What's wrong?" Foley asked, readying his SMG.

"Listen, there's somebody else in the tunnel."

The Master Chief could hear it. It sounded like footsteps, at least ten people, or more. As soon as he made his report, everybody took a step back and hit the wall. The others readied their weapons and kept them trained at the end of the junction.

"I thought the Covenant didn't patrol the sewers" a soldier said fearfully.

"I said the Covenant didn't use the sewers" Cortana reassured, much to the discomfort of the other soldiers.

"Quiet down" the Master Chief ordered, as he flicked the safety off his Battle Rifle.

The footsteps then got closer and closer. Every increase in sound signified the shortening distance between them and the Master Chief's team. Everybody remained silent, but in their minds, they were shaken. Could the six of them stand a chance against at least double their number?

The Master Chief listened closely to the footsteps. As he did, he swore, he could hear something else as well. It sounded like voices. The Spartan focused in on the talking, trying to figure out what they were saying. Curiously, it sounded as though he understood what they were saying.

"_It was from over here, I swear!"_

"_Are you stupid, Murphy? I don't hear anything. Covies don't even patrol the sewers."_

"_That's coming from the same guy who thinks Napoleon won Waterloo. There was something over there, I swear!"_

"_Hey, hey, hey, he _technically _won, not Wellington, _Napoleon_."_

"_Are you two retards done yet? We've got to haul ass to the rally point! The first team is already there."_

"_What about the Chief and Foley's?"_

"_We'll wait for those guys. Listen, with the exception of them, the other group is done so we've all got to get our asses to the rally point."_

The Master Chief then realized who they were. He held up a hand and waved forward, telling the others to ease up. The Spartan then opened up a line with the soldiers.

"This is the Master Chief, hold fire."

"_What? Chief, where are you?"_

Waving a hand, the Master Chief and the others emerged from their hiding spot, much to the shock and surprise of the patrolling soldiers.

"What? How? Huh?" one of the soldiers blabbered on.

"Jesus, you scared the hell out of us Chief," another soldier commented. He was the same soldier who had insisted on searching the tunnels. "You guys were really there, right?"

"Hey, you guys also found a tunnel?" the third soldier, the same one who was berating the other two earlier, finally asked, smiling.

"Also?" Foley asked, noticing a shift in the soldier's tone of voice.

"We were en route to the generator when one of these two idiots got our group lost," he explained, shaking his fist at the two soldiers while emphasizing the last bit. "They found a sewer or tunnel entrance, and turns out, it led straight to generator, and it also turns out, all the other guys found them."

"Everybody else?" Foley asked, somewhat shocked.

The soldier nodded.

"Yeah, everybody; the other group taking the other generator, and the guys planting the charges," the soldier continued. "They're at the rally point waiting for us and we were just heading there when these two idiots thought they heard something, so our group split up, one went to the rally point, and we three went around looking like idiots for whatever they thought they heard."

The soldier playfully hit the back of one of the two soldier's helmets.

"Yeah, these tunnels are great," one of the soldiers said. "They run everywhere and it sure beat the hell out of repelling down the side of the railings."

"Couldn't you have wondered what would have happened if some Grunts strolled in while we were there? We would have had to hide under the damn catwalk, or maybe tackle them over the railing – hey, what's with the long faces? And hey, where's your suit Foley?"

Behind the Master Chief, Foley, Cortana, and the other soldiers had gloomy faces. Cortana, especially, refused to answer.

"Shut up" Foley finally said, breaking the silence, as he marched on.

As they moved along, the Master Chief connected to the other soldiers.

"This is the Master Chief, what's your status?"

"_We're operational, Chief, all charges have been planted and are ready to go boom when you give the order_," a soldier from the other end of the radio reported. "_Also, the teams rigging explosives below the defensive lines have found structural weaknesses in the ramp. They're saying it's possible, given the amount of C-10 they're using, that they can tear it up pretty good, and even make a few entry points for the boys outside._"

"That's good to hear. Hang tight, we're in bound."

The three soldiers led the way to the rally point, and from there, they rendezvoused with the other soldiers. The rally point was situated inside of a medium sized storage room. The area was cramped, especially for twenty-four fully armed soldiers, but there was just enough space to squeeze through, and enough space for Cortana to get out her PDA.

"Alright, down the hall to the right, a left, straight ahead, and another left," Cortana began. "That will bring us to the room holding the communications terminal."

"We already scouted it out," one of the soldiers near the entrance of the storage room reported. "We've got a problem – there's a reinforced door leading in, with a few Elites operating the door at a security station at all times."

A reinforced door meant trouble. Also, the mention of a team of Elites watching the entry also meant trouble.

"Any idea how to get past that door?" the Master Chief asked.

There was a near unanimous shrugging of shoulders and mutters of 'No' amongst the soldiers.

"We could go back, pick up some of the C-10 we used below the defensive lines and use it on the door" a soldier suggested.

"Might work, but that door does look pretty damn reinforced from what I saw" a soldier buried away in the corner replied.

"We'd have to take all the explosives from the defensive lines if we were to even try to crack it," Cortana said, removing all thoughts of using explosives to open the door. "Besides, we do that and we'd get half the Covenant army on our tails even before we get the virus planted."

A wave of silence went out around the soldiers. They needed to get inside the communications station.

"What's the time?" a soldier then asked.

"Quarter after one" came the response, followed by several sighs. It was late, many of them usually slept at this time, and to be on a mission of such a level seemed surreal.

"Another two minutes before another of those guys will come across, I think – hey, wait a minute, wait a minute."

All eyes then turned to the soldiers near the front of the room, the ones who had planted the charges under the defensive lines. One of them checked their watch, and they all looked at each other in disbelief.

"There's a way in! Every ten minutes or so, some Elite, one of those big, high ranking ones with the helmets, comes by and goes to the communications room!" the soldier said, his voice excited and frantic. "The guys inside check him, and then they open the door…"

"So all we need to do is wait for one of those guys to come, let him and the others open the door, drop them, and we're in." Foley finished the rest of the sentence.

It was a logically sound plan. The Master Chief raised his rifle and moved towards the front of the room.

"I need eight guys with me and Cortana. We're going to get in one way or the other."

Cortana squeezed through, and the group of eight that included Foley, came as well. They then opened the door and left the rally point, following the directions Cortana gave them. Creeping along, they had come to hallway just before the left turn, which would bring them to the entry to the communications room. The hallway was conveniently wide and had various crates and material stacked about – perfect cover. The door located left down the hallway to the communications room was extremely well reinforced, as the Master Chief observed. It was no different from one of the doors off of a Covenant battlecruiser, its curved and metallic purple design at a stark contrast to the dull beige and grey of the concrete walls.

"That last time, we saw one of them Elites walking in from the right side and across" one of the soldiers pointed out.

"Let's go over this one more time," the Master Chief said, finalizing their plan of action. "We'll wait for the Elite and let him get to the doorway. As soon as the door opens, we open fire. As soon as the Elite, and the first few guards are down, we move in and secure the communications station. Everybody else will follow after we gain control, understood?"

Several affirmative replies sounded off from the others waiting in the hallway.

"We've got movement!" Foley reported, waving a hand and getting behind cover. "Quiet down, and wait for the go!"

The excess material in the hallway provided a decent amount of cover. Given the limited lighting, the Master Chief, Cortana, Foley, and the seven others were practically invisible. The slow footsteps of the Elite got louder and louder, and eventually, the alien warrior came into view. The Elite was almost no different from the others, except his armour was highly ornate and coloured in a shiny silver. The most distinctive part of the warrior was its helmet, a large and wide brimmed helm with a facemask that almost reminded the Master Chief of the ancient Greek hoplites.

"It's a Councillor," Cortana whispered. "The political leaders and heads within the Covenant. This is one of the few times one has even been seen."

Foley then made a slashing motion with his hand, ordering Cortana to quiet down. Luckily, the Councillor had not noticed anything, and continued its path down the hallway. The Councillor didn't carry any visible weapons, but the Master Chief thought he could make out the shape of an energy sword on its hip. At best, the Councillor had to be a skilled close quarter's fighter.

"He's at the door" one of the soldiers reported.

Foley made a motion with his hands towards the hallway. A trio of soldiers, as well as the Master Chief himself, moved further into the hallway, but still remained hidden. All of them carried Battle Rifles, the best bet for being able to hit both the Councillor and whoever was inside the communications room. Down the hallway, the Councillor made motions with his hands and began speaking, possibly to the Elites at the other end.

"Stand by…" the Master Chief said quietly.

The Councillor spoke some more down by the door.

"Stand by…"

The Master Chief flicked the safety off on his Battle Rifle. The others either did the same, or had done so earlier.

The door at the end of the hallway then opened.

"Go, go, go!"

In an instant, the Master Chief and the three others had raised their Battle Rifles and fired. The bursts of 9.5x40mm rounds left the muzzles of the silencers with thick muffled snaps. The first few slashed through the Councillors back, probably piercing its lungs and spinal cord. The next few caught the Elites inside the communications room by surprise. The tight and accurately fired bursts tore through their armour and spilled purple blood and gore.

"Moving!"

The Master Chief and the others ceased fire as Foley led the charge with the remainder of the group following. Foley leapt first into the communications room and let loose a fully automatic spray from his SMG, the long burst sounding more like a string of inaudible clicks. As soon as Foley and the others were able to secure a foothold inside, the Master Chief, Cortana, and the others moved in.

The inside of the communications room was cramped and dark, and in several places it looked as though the Covenant attempted to redecorate in Covenant décor. The ceiling was high, and extended further up into this section of the arcology. In the centre of the room was the main objective – the Covenant communications terminal. It was a large piece of machinery with holographic displays and keypads spread out around it, and on top of the terminal was a boom that extended up to the ceiling, and probably branched off elsewhere on top of the arcology.

"Secure, we're good!"

"Close the doors and get somebody working on that terminal, now!" Foley barked.

The communications room had two other doors, in addition to the one they came in from, but only one security station that monitored all doors. The security station was right next to the entry. One of the soldiers began working there, and had locked the doors shut. During this, a pair of soldiers began working to upload the virus using the terminal. While Cortana could have done it herself, she had to remain close to the Master Chief for her safety.

The room itself would be difficult to defend. There was little or no cover available, with the exception of a few crates and the communications terminal itself. Worse, there were the three entrances into it. They would be easily surrounded in the event of a fight.

"Doors, secure."

"What about the ceiling?" one of the soldiers standing next to the terminal asked, looking up into it. "Can the Covies come in from above?"

"Not sure," Cortana replied, remaining next to the Master Chief. "I wouldn't say no, so keep on guard."

In another corner, a group of soldiers dragged the bodies of the fallen Elites out of the way. The Master Chief did his part of help, dragging two corpses at a time, one in each hand. Foley did so as well, but only carried one.

"I was actually scared for a bit," one of the soldiers securing the bodies commented. "But taking these guys down was easier than planting the explosives."

"Of course it was," Foley said, plopping a body on top of another. "These guys didn't even turn their shields on. Lazy bastards probably didn't think we were going to hit them here."

It was true. The bursts from their Battle Rifles took down the Councillor and the other Elites without any struggle. Within the span of a few minutes, they had cleared all the bodies out of the way and had established a perimeter around the area.

"Uh, Chief, Foley, we've got one…no, _two_, problems" one of the soldiers at the terminal reported.

The Master Chief walked over to the two soldiers operating the terminal.

"We can't upload the virus; something's preventing us from doing that."

It was the report that everybody did not want to hear. The virus was the key to the mission, and if it could not be used, it was bad news. Cortana quickly got up to the terminal.

"That's what you have me for," she said as she took over the task of getting the virus to upload. "Give me a few minutes."

Cortana then began her work. As she did, one of the soldiers originally working on it scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Uh, yeah, second problem – the Covies are getting suspicious and they're sending a team to investigate. We don't have a few minutes."

Not being able to upload the virus was bad enough. This new revelation was something the soldiers definitely did not want to hear.

"Make sure those doors are sealed!" Foley barked. "I need at least six guys on each door – let's move!"

Everybody in the communications room moved out and held their positions. Others ran forward and fixed fragmentation grenades in front of the doors with thin wire. It would at least provide some help with taking down the first wave of resistance. Almost all of the soldiers, including the Master Chief and Foley, unfixed their silencers – at this point, they didn't need them.

"What's happening out there?" Foley quickly took a look around at the positioning of the soldiers. "What's going on? Somebody talk to me!"

"I've got a visual on the first team – eight Elites, reinforced by Jackals and Grunts, incoming, at the entry!" a soldier at the security station shouted back.

The six soldiers watching the entry were reinforced by several others, including Foley. The Master Chief stood in between them and the terminal, where Cortana was at work.

"Status, Cortana?"

"I'm working as fast as I can," she replied impatiently. "I can bypass the security systems, but I need time."

"We ain't got time!" Foley shouted angrily.

"Hey, patience…is…a…virtue!" Cortana shouted back angrily.

One of the soldiers watching the entry then turned his head around towards the terminal.

"Patience doesn't block plasma!"

Cortana angrily muttered something beneath her breath, something which the Master Chief couldn't identify. Her fingers were a blur as they rapidly flashed over her PDA and the Covenant terminal. Could Cortana break the Covenant security systems in time? Could she do so before the Covenant troops arrive?

The Master Chief had no doubt she could do that. All she needed was time.

"They're outside the door! They're pinging us. I'll try and buy us some time."

The soldier began to press several buttons at the security station, aided by the software in his PDA. The displays quickly flashed, and faded.

"I managed to convince them there's a door and communications problem, but I'm not sure if they're buying it."

"How far are we, Cortana?" Foley demanded.

"I need thirty seconds!"

"Uh, guys, I'm seeing several other teams getting to the other doors…and the guys at the entry have just pulled out some explosives!"

"Get clear of the door! Everybody stand your ground and hold the area!" Foley barked, waving his arms off towards the other doors.

The soldiers split themselves off and covered all of the doors equally. The Master Chief double-checked his Battle Rifle, making sure he had at least a shotgun shell loaded inside its grenade launcher, and that its magazine was in. It was in this brief moment of anticipation and fear that the soldiers readied themselves. It was the final moment of peace and serenity the soldiers would feel, moments before going into battle.

"I'm ready! Let's do this!"

"Rock on! I'm ready!"

"Ready!"

"Ready! What about you?"

The soldiers sounded off their readiness. It was the final check, to make sure everybody was prepared for the encounter. It also served the purpose of getting the minds of the soldiers psyched for the impending battle.

"Cortana?" the Master Chief asked again.

"Almost…there…"

The door leading into the entry then detonated. The force and heat from the Covenant door breaching explosive was strong – so much, that even the Master Chief could feel the heat of it. An Elite then charged through, plasma rifle in hand.

The sound of the grenade's pin being pulled as the Elite's hoof tripped the wire was almost completely silent.

The sound of the grenade, however, was not.

"Go!" Foley shouted, just as the Elite was blown to bits by the grenade.

They all opened fire. The first of the Covenant entry teams were cut down as they charged in. The Master Chief fired burst after burst at the now opened doorway, watching as Grunts were cut down almost instantly.

"Frag, out!"

A soldier armed a grenade and tossed it through the doorway. The grenade detonated with an ear-splitting _bang_ five seconds later, spilling gore and blood throughout the hallway. Behind the soldiers, the other two doors then blew open. Covenant troops then charged through, tripping the fragmentation grenades rigged at the entrance.

"Rear doors have been breached!" Foley barked overtop of the sound of the grenades detonating, pointing towards them. Most of the soldiers turned around and met the new arrivals.

"Cortana, status?" The Master Chief looked towards her as he swapped out a magazine.

"Done!" Cortana yelled in triumph. "The virus has been uploaded, and it's taking affect."

"Blow the generators, and then blow the defences!" Foley ordered. One of the other soldiers grabbed hold of the detonators, armed them, and detonated the planted explosives in that order.

In the distance there was a long string of rumbles, so powerful the soldiers inside the communications room could also feel them.

"Let's see…automated guns are offline." Cortana smiled as she reported the new development to the others.

"It's up to everybody else now."

* * *

Rhineland was keeping watching over the arcology when he heard the first rumble. It didn't feel right, but it felt like something. 

Following it was a thunderous roar, flying debris, and smoke. He, as well as all the others knew exactly what it meant.

"Light 'em up!" he barked, with hooting and laughing following.

It was barely a split second before sniper rifles sounded off and high velocity rifle rounds left the muzzles of their barrels with distinct cracks.

"Top of the ramp, plasma cannon, two Elites!" one of the spotter shouted.

"They're mine!" Rhineland yelled as he got into position.

The former-ODST raised his rifle and spotted the plasma cannon that was being manned by the two Elites. The procedures for sniping and targeting flashed through Rhineland's head in an instant. He quietly squeezed the trigger, and watched as the first Elite's head disappeared with a spark and a cloud of purple gore. The other looked at its fallen brother, and then around for whoever did it.

Rhineland squeezed the trigger again. Same result – only there were two bodies now.

"Keep up the fire," Rhineland ordered. "Watch for snipers and gunners at the arcology."

He sent the same order to the other units. The long vapour trails were difficult to see in the night, but Rhineland could hear them.

"Rhineland to Stacker, Rhineland to Stacker – send the order. It's game time."

* * *

Elias nearly bit his own tongue off when he heard the explosions. 

He and the other soldiers, both part of Fist-Alpha and the civilian force, were sitting inside a building almost right next to the arcology. They had at least a hundred metres to run in order to reach even the start of the ramp, but they were fairly close.

They were close enough to see the ramp suddenly detonate, throwing debris, rock, and unfortunate Covenant soldiers into the air.

The explosion wasn't just powerful – it was the biggest and most destructive thing Elias had ever seen. His bones and teeth rattled inside his body, at risk of shattering inside of him. The force of the explosion was so thick and so strong, Elias could have sworn he would have been thrown back another mile had he not been sitting down and casually holding the edge of an open window.

"There's the signal! Let's roll!"

There was then a distant, yet sharp whistle from one of the commanders in the back of the room. At the moment, everybody inside the building stood up and charged. In that moment, pandemonium and insanity took over. Elias could barely breathe from the excitement as more than a thousand soldiers charged out of the building, and several others around it. They were tasked with taking the north

Machinegun fire chattered above their heads, thick volumes of bullets filling the air and impacting against the side of the arcology. They had set up a pair of M247 .30 calibre machineguns on the roof, as well as with a LAAG salvaged from an unusable Warthog. The three guns were raining down an impressive number of rounds at the arcology.

The long bursts of tracers lit up the dark night sky above them. Their long lines of fire were replied to by the Covenant plasma cannons. The side of the arcology almost lit up as numerous manned plasma cannons lit up and fired at the incoming wave.

Everything was a blur. Elias could barely see as the thick waves of soldiers continued to move. As he got closer to the ramp, he then noticed the lines were thinning. Elias took a brief glance at the ground, and immediately noticed the dead and dying bodies of the soldiers.

"Let's move, let's move!"

The numbers of fallen soldiers increased as he got closer and closer, and so did the sounds of plasma cannons. Somewhere in between the charging wave, a soldier raised an improvised rocket launcher and fired, the rocket impacting and detonating against a hardened post at the side of the arcology. Sporadic gunfire erupted every often from the soldiers. Suddenly, the man in front of Elias fell back. Elias caught him, and found himself kneeling on the ground with somebody in his arms.

The soldier was middle aged, older than Elias. Without looking at the section of burnt flesh at his neck, Elias could already tell - he was dead.

Elias stared into the dead solder's eyes for a nanosecond before he dropped the body and continued to run. Through the thinning ranks of soldiers, Elias could see the base of the ramp, and the twisted pieces of concrete resulting from the detonation. In one final push, Elias sprinted forward and leapt, taking cover being the concrete.

Several other soldiers lined up next to him, hiding as much behind the concrete as possible. Others farther down the line hid behind a set of hastily constructed 'shields', giant curved pieces of salvaged material to provide cover from enemy fire.

"Elias, here!"

The others shouted from down the line, signalling that they've arrived safely. Periodically, soldiers got up out of cover and began firing at the Covenant positions. They had to quickly get back down, or be cut down by bursts of plasma.

"We've got several plasma cannons above us! Where the hell's the sniper cover?" a soldier demanded, getting back down just as a rapid stream of plasma passed over him.

A series of long vapour trails extended over their heads. Rhineland and his snipers were providing cover, but there seemed to be too many Covenant and too many plasma cannons for them to pick off. Green flares erupted from the sides of the arcology and hit the incoming human wave, resulting in dismembered limbs and panic.

"Ah, shit, they've got fuel rods up there!"

Fuel rod cannons – the Covenant equivalent of rocket launchers. Peering up for a second, Elias could see a long section of window where several plasma cannons and a few Grunts carrying the dreaded explosive weapons were stationed. He got up for a minute and fired a burst from his Battle Rifle. He could see one of the Grunts topple over as the bullets hit their mark. Elias then got back down as plasma sprayed over his position.

"Stacker, this is north face, we're pinned down, I repeat, pinned down!" a soldier next to Elias, one of the local commanders leading part of the operation, reported over his radio.

The soldier had gotten up, a small, seemingly innocent move, and had promptly gotten his head shot off by a needle thin burst of plasma. A Jackal sniper has made at least its first kill of the night from its position. The radio the soldier had just before fell to the ground, which Elias grabbed and picked up.

"_Connelly, are you there? We missed your last transmission. Connelly?"_

"Stacker, this is Elias," Elias said. "Connelly's dead. We're on the north face, and we're pinned down by sniper and plasma cannon fire. They keep reinforcing!"

There was a near minute long pause as his report was probably being analyzed by Stacker and the others back at command.

"_Copy that, Elias. We're sending this to Rhineland. Hold on, we're going to get more intel from the others and try to figure a way through."_

It was easier said than done. The arcology was bristling with plasma cannons. Even when the automated guns were down, the remaining number of guns and the legions of Covenant soldiers still made the assault next to impossible.

As Elias waited, several soldiers rolled in next to him.

"Where's Connelly?" one of them asked.

"There." Elias pointed to the corpse lying just a metre down from their position. "Who's in charge now?"

The soldier looked down at the body, then to Elias.

"I think you are. Any idea what we're going to do now?"

Elias was afraid of that answer. If it was true, he was now responsible for a large section of soldiers assaulting a nigh-invulnerable Covenant stronghold.

"How are the other faces doing?" he inquired, hoping to find something to help.

"I think we're all in the same boat," one of the soldiers weakly replied. "The guys at the south face found a giant hole the charges made and are trying to get inside, but everywhere else, it's all the same."

It wasn't enough – even if they could make a hole and crawl through, they needed to take the arcology. Elias needed a break of some sort – something to break then tension, some sign that the assault was at least working…

"East side has broken through!"

Everybody on the north face looked over to the east; soldiers from that side were running up the ramp, past the concrete lines of cover and up towards the arcology. Had they really broken through?

"Stacker, this is Elias, the east side has broken through." Elias couldn't think of what to do. He hoped at least Stacker knew something.

"_Elias, that foothold cannot fall, you understand me? Separate the north face and get one section to reinforce the east face and keep it under our control. We can then relieve the pressure from the north and hopefully get them up there."_

"Got it, Stacker, we'll hold it."

Elias then pointed over to the east, and directed the soldiers over there.

"Get at least half of the guys on the north to go for the east face. We've got to hold that position and not let the Covies take it back."

"Got it, Elias. Come on everybody, to the east!"

Elias got up and followed, and as did a large section of the force on the north face. When they reached the east side, Elias spotted the massive number of dead and wounded covering the ramp. The people on the east side had charged up the ramp and had taken their foothold by attrition.

"Get those shields and advance up the ramp" Elias ordered, pointing towards the various shields that stood all around the concrete line. They were going to use them while advancing up to the arcology as cover, so they'd at least reach the building without being shot at during the run.

"I need a few guys to also gather weapons and ammo and get them up to the arcology."

With that, the force grabbed the shields and charged, while a few stayed behind to salvage munitions. Elias stayed with them, picking up several clips from a dead soldier. As he sat down behind a piece of concrete, his stomach contracted and he threw up. The sheer number of dead and dying and the feeling that he had to now take command was still new to him, and it left him quite shaken.

He only hoped they'd make it out of this one alive.

* * *

"West face is reporting fifty percent causalities." 

"Order Flynn to send a few Warthogs to the west face to pick up the wounded and get them back to the field hospital."

"Got it, Stacker."

"South face has made contact with Covenant forces inside the arcology."

"Tell them to press the attack, and send a few others through that hole they found."

Just before the attack began, Stacker felt almost embarrassed. He was old, could barely use a weapon now, and was sitting in a dimly lit 'command' room far from the battle, free of the blood and the carnage that the men at the arcology would face. Currently, the command room was anywhere far from calm – the other command staff scrambled around, sending radio transmissions and updating the locations of the attack force on their maps.

Elias had reported that the east face had broken through, and Stacker had ordered him to split the north force to maintain the foothold at the east face. The south face was lucky enough to have found a hole made by the charges the Master Chief's entry group had planted and were moving in through that. Otherwise, everywhere else was in the same condition – pinned down, wounded, but still fighting.

It was a mess over at the arcology, but that foothold at the east face was their only hope in an otherwise dreadful attack.

"Where's Cathy?"

Connor was present in the command room next to Stacker. He looked at the map with a grim demeanour, worried over the well-being of Cortana.

"She's inside with the Master Chief. They're fine."

Stacker had to sugar-coat the story. While she, the Master Chief, and Foley were fine, their group wasn't. They were under heavy attack by Covenant forces, had lost six men already with several others wounded, and were running low on ammo. Stacker sent an order to hurry the assault from the faces, but it meant nothing – trying to rush the attack would only mean more soldiers would get lost in the process.

"Stacker, we've lost the eastern sniper team!"

Stacker looked over at the staff member who reported that. Rhineland's sniper teams were essential for the attack, and to lose a team would be bad news.

"What happened?"

"We've got scattered reports that a task force of Covenant vehicles are sweeping through the area and they were able to take out the eastern sniper team."

"Are they all gone?"

The staff member looked at Stacker grimly.

"All KIA, Stacker."

It was bad news. Stacker immediately got on the radio and contacted Rhineland's north face sniper team. He needed to warn him, and maybe even relocate him.

"Rhineland, the east sniper team has been eliminated and you might have Covenant armour rolling towards the other positions, and yours soon."

* * *

Rhineland had heard and seen the distant explosion just as Stacker reported it. 

"East group is gone, Rhineland!" one of his snipers reported, only solidifying the loss of the sniper team.

Judging from the distinct shape and sound of the plasma that the east side's sniper team was engulfed in, it had to be a Wraith, one of the four they had spotted before the attack started.

"Heads up, I've spotted three Spectres and a Wraith, closing in on our position!"

Everybody at the post froze. As though losing the east side sniper team wasn't bad enough.

"Grab as much ammo and you can and get your asses out of here!" Rhineland barked.

There was a flurry of activity as the snipers picked up as many clips as they could carry and began to pile out of the room. As they did so, the building shook violently.

"The Wraith is sighting us, and I think he's getting closer…"

Rhineland and the last of the snipers finally got out, just as the room they once occupied was consumed by a blue ball of plasma. Outside the room in the hallway just adjacent, Rhineland and the others waited.

"How many rockets do we have?" he asked. All the sniper teams carried a lot of weapons and ammo and even a few explosive weapons, 'just in case.'

"Three."

Rhineland pointed towards the door. One of the snipers brought out the rocket launcher and moved into position. They were using the same improvised rocket launchers Fist-Alpha was able to put together. The crudely constructed tubes were disposable one-shot weapons, but they were valuable against armoured targets.

"Clear!"

Rhineland and the others got a safe distance away just as the sniper fired, the rocket leaving the tube, with an explosion a matter of seconds later.

"I managed to get one of the Spectres. I can't see the Wraith anymore" the sniper reported when he rejoined the others.

"He's probably moved back out into cover," Rhineland predicted. "We've got to take that thing out."

With Rhineland leading, the snipers moved out and got to the ground floor of the building. While they were geared more towards long range combat, several of the snipers had SMG's and shotguns handy.

"The remaining two Spectres are right outside" a sniper reported.

"I need five guys to stay here and pick the drivers and others at my signal," Rhineland ordered, his voice barely above a whisper. "We'll circle around, find the Wraith and take it out."

The five staying behind took up their positions, while Rhineland led the others. They exited the building via the rear alleyway and moved down the street. They reached a turn and another open alleyway when they spotted the Wraith lumbering by.

"We've spotted the Wraith," Rhineland reported via his radio. "Got a lock on the Covies?"

"_Roger that, waiting for your go."_

Rhineland waved forward, a pair of snipers moving forward with the rocket launchers over their shoulders. They were so far undetected, with the rear of the Wraith facing their direction. Peering around the corner, Rhineland confirmed the location of the Wraith. It was now far enough. He made an 'attack' signal with his hand.

The two snipers popped out of the alleyway and fired, the two rockets impacting the rear of the Wraith, which lifted up into the air and then back down, now a useless and lifeless hulk.

"Go!" Rhineland barked, signalling the go.

There were a set of _snaps_ farther down the street.

"_Eight bodies on the sidewalk."_

"Good work," Rhineland commended as he and the others moved in and rejoined the others.

"We're done here. We've got to make for the arcology and help out with the attack."

"There isn't enough seats for all of us to go," one of the snipers said as he pulled a dead Grunt out of the side seat. "Rhineland, you and the others go, I'll stay behind with four others and provide any sniper cover or recon where needed."

"Got it, good hunting" Rhineland replied.

The sniper and the four others began to move out to find another building to watch from.

"Good luck to you guys."

Rhineland hopped onto the side seat on the lead Spectre and the two vehicles were off, ferrying the eight snipers to the arcology.

"Rhineland to Stacker, we're relocating – Wraith took out our post. We're moving in towards the arcology now."

"_Acknowledged, Rhineland. We're issuing a warning to the other teams to be on the lookout for Covenant vehicles, and we're sending a heads-up to Elias about your arrival."_

"Copy, we'll be there in five."

* * *

"North side has broken through!" 

A cheer went out amongst the soldiers. Elias himself found himself hollering. The pressure they had established from the east side had helped enough to let enough soldiers make their way up the ramp and breach the arcology.

Elias stayed on the east side of the ramp and was helping to direct teams towards the arcology. So far, it was working. The north-eastern arcology building was now almost entirely under human control. The east side had paid dearly in order to take the building, but the reward was worth it. The south side of the arcology was also being pressured by soldiers who had gotten into the building via the underground tunnels, and they had technically breached the arcology already.

The west side was in the worst shape. Almost no progress was made there, but they were being relieved by the forces making progress on the north and south faces.

"_Elias, be advised, Rhineland and a team of snipers are moving towards your position now"_ Stacker reported. Elias had heard the news that the eastern sniper team was taken out and that Rhineland had to relocate. It wasn't bad news, since he knew Rhineland was a great soldier.

"Got it, the more the merrier" Elias replied.

Sure enough, Rhineland had eventually arrived. Elias was freaked out for a moment when he spotted a pair of Spectres, but when he noticed it was being piloted by human soldiers, he smiled.

"Need help?" Rhineland asked almost casually as he got off the vehicle and got down next to Elias. The other snipers did so as well, while a few others stayed in the other Spectre.

"We need all we can get."

Plasma then sprayed around the section of concrete cover that Elias was crouching behind. When it stopped, Rhineland raised his rifle and fired a pair of rounds up into the arcology. Elias could do nothing but watch in awe as he picked off the gunners with ease.

"Come on, let's get up there" he said.

Before Elias could move, he then spotted a convoy of Warthogs driving up to their location. Three of them split off, while the others circled around, the gunners manning the LAAG chain guns kept their sights on the arcology. The driver of the lead Warthog disembarked and got down next to Elias and Rhineland. Elias recognized him – Flynn, the same guy who was driving the Warthog the same day they had taken out the Covenant vehicle depots.

"How many wounded do you have here?" he asked frantically.

"They're down there, by the base of the ramp." Elias pointed towards the location. "There's more up at the arcology entrance and at the inside."

"Do you guys have any reinforcements?" Rhineland asked, noticing the number of Warthogs.

"A few, but we're getting them in," Flynn replied, directing the others to picked up the wounded. "Our primary objective is to get the wounded back to the field hospital."

Elias could see some of the soldiers carrying the wounded to the back of Warthogs. The backs of those Warthogs were without their guns, and the addition space allowed at least half a dozen wounded soldiers to lie down in.

"You're doing a good job, Flynn" Elias complimented, patting Flynn's shoulder.

"Wraiths, incoming!"

Elias and Rhineland looked off to the source of the cry, and instantly picked out a pair of Wraiths rolling towards the ramp. The lead mortar tank fired its long blob of plasma, with Elias helpless as it impacted somewhere by the north face.

"Ah, shit!" Flynn cried out. "Take cover!"

"Get the wounded back to the field hospital, on the double," Rhineland ordered. "Elias, how many rockets do you have?"

Elias pointed towards a bizarrely neat pile they had stashed away at the base, at least a dozen tubes.

"Get those launchers and follow me" Rhineland said, waving a hand.

"Get moving!" the former-ODST shouted at the snipers piloting the other Spectre. "Draw their fire, and we'll take them out!"

Elias and the other snipers picked up the launchers and got onto the Spectre, cramming them into as much space as possible on the small Covenant vehicle. Once on board, Elias sat down in the side seat while Rhineland got into the driver's seat.

"What's your plan?" Elias asked nervously.

"We're going to circle around, and when we get a clear shot, take it!"

Up ahead, the first Spectre sped around, the gunner taking pot shots at the heavily armoured tank. Their fire drew the first Wraith in their direction and gave chase. Rhineland manoeuvred the alien vehicle behind the tank. Their position was perfectly in place.

"Take the shot, Elias!"

Rhineland didn't need to tell Elias twice. Elias had the rocket launcher over his shoulder and fired. The rocket hit its mark, shaking the armoured vehicle with its impact. Elias tossed the spent tube over the side of the vehicle and shouldered another, taking yet another shot. The second rocket hit the tank, and the entire vehicle detonated in an angry blue and yellow explosion complete with twisted metal pieces flying off as the tank fell to the ground, motionless.

"Behind us, the second tank!"

"Hold on!" Rhineland shouted, as he hit the controls.

The Spectre stopped and strafed left, so hard, had Elias not been holding on, he would have fallen out. Next to them, a blue ball of plasma hit the ground where the Spectre was just sitting at. Rhineland then spun the vehicle around and continued on.

Elias pulled out another rocket launcher and fired, the rocket scoring a direct hit on the tank.

"Have you driven one of these things before?" Elias asked, noting how smooth Rhineland was controlling the vehicle.

"Me? Nah, it's my first time" Rhineland replied.

Elias wasn't sure whether to be surprised, or simply scared.

"Ghosts, incoming!" the sniper in the other side seat warned, firing off several shots.

Elias spotted at least ten or twelve of the small, nimble alien vehicles speeding towards them. The gunner reoriented the gun and began firing, the rapid string of plasma chipping away at one of the first Ghost, and then destroying the rest of it.

"We've got get out of here, they're going to run circles around us!" the gunner shouted as more Ghosts continued towards them. The gunner continued to keep up the first, taking down another pair. The other Spectre came back around and was helping to keep the Ghosts off their vehicle.

Rhineland looked around, noting the positioning of the Wraith and the Ghosts around them. He then moved forward, hitting the vehicle's boost in the process. Elias looked on in horror as he realized Rhineland was going straight for the Wraith.

"Hold onto something!"

The Spectre hit the curved side of the Wraith. The added speed of the Spectre and the upwards curved shape of the Wraith's side lifted the vehicle into the air. Elias felt his stomach float, and resisted the urge to scream in fear. While in midair, Rhineland turned the vehicle around, the nose facing the Wraith. The Spectre then hit the ground, the base of the vehicle scraping against dirt and pieces of concrete before the boosted gravity propulsion drive lifted it back into the air.

Elias was hyperventilating. He was not expecting to go flying into the air, not today at least. In between his moment of shock, he realized they were right behind the Wraith, with Rhineland pulling the vehicle back to a safe distance. Elias lifted a rocket launcher and fired. The Covenant mortar tank detonated in a blue and yellow plume of smoke.

"Nice hit, Elias!" Rhineland commented. They had taken two Wraiths down.

"Rhineland, look out!"

Everybody on board looked around to the left side of the Spectre in fear. There was another mortar tank, and it was driving straight towards them.

"Brace yourselves!"

The front of the tank impacted against the Spectre, pushing it forward while jerking around the occupants. The small plasma cannons on the Wraith then opened fire. The gunner and sniper in the left seat cried out, taking the most of the hits. Rhineland also cried out, a shot striking his arm. Elias was somehow shielded from all of this, which struck even more fear into him. His friends were being shot at, and only he was safe.

The Spectre slowly turned to face it, and as soon as Elias had a good shot, he fired another rocket, watching as it impacted and tore off the hatch of the tank.

"Get out, get out!" Rhineland shouted, hopping off the vehicle.

Elias did the same, hitting the ground hard, but he looked on in worry as the other two didn't. The gunner hung dead at the gun, while the sniper at the side seat struggled to get out. The mortar tank then belched blue plasma, and had reduced the Spectre to a smouldering wreck.

The tank then continued forward. Elias slowly got off the ground, still feeling the affects of the hard landing. Some distance away from his, Rhineland slowly got up as well. His arm looked pretty bad, but he was still alive.

As for the other two in the Spectre…

Elias angrily swore out at the Wraith. He picked his Battle Rifle off the ground and charged straight for it. There wasn't a way for Elias to describe his anger – that Covenant son-of-a-bitch had wounded the two soldiers and then killed them. He continued to run towards the tank. Rhineland shouted something at him, but Elias paid no attention.

He hopped onto the tank from the rear and clung on. He slowly got onto the side and made his way towards the hatch. He had blown it off with the first rocket, and he knew it was now open. As soon as he was there, he readied his rifle.

"Surprise, bitch!"

The Elite piloting the vehicle looked up at Elias in shock, not anticipating Elias to have gotten onto the tank. Elias opened fire, watching as the bursts from his rifle knocked off the Elite's shields and then pieced its armour. The Elite was helpless during the process, and eventually slumped dead at the controls, the tank's propulsion systems stopping in the process as well.

Plasma then lashed out at the tank's hull. The Ghosts had seen Elias on the tank. He tried to find someplace to hide, someplace to regroup. He then looked at the open hatch of the tank.

Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he pulled the Elite's heavy corpse out of the vehicle and rudely plopped it over the side. He then got inside. The inside was large, designed for an Elite, which resulted in the seat and controls being too large for Elias. The 360 degree holographic view came to life as well as with the controls. Looking in, Elias tried pressing whatever button he could. The tank then lifted into the air. With his left hand on the controls, Elias moved the tank around, and the controls on his right appeared to control the mortar.

He repositioned the gun and fired, the mortar belching a ball of plasma and engulfing a pair of Ghosts.

Elias then smiled.

"Time to kick _ass!_" he yelled.

He moved the tank forward and spotted a trio of Ghost harassing the other Spectre. He aimed the mortar and released a shot, watching as two were caught in the blast and the third was thrown off crashing into a wall. He continued on, making his way to the west, where he spotted the last of the Ghosts trying to finish off the already hurt attack force.

Elias fired another round, and then another, watching as the Ghosts detonated in blue bursts, with their pilots lying dead in their seats. It was payback for the two snipers killed at the Spectre. He could hear the wounded soldiers cheering him on. It brought a smile to Elias's face, knowing he was doing something right.

Plasma then sprayed against his tank. The Covenant manning the plasma cannons facing the west side were firing on him now. Elias reoriented the tank and aimed the plasma mortar. He fired a shot, watching as it impacted against the side of the arcology, taking the cannon and several others with it.

Looking around, Elias then spotted something. It was an Elite, still standing after being shot at. The Elite was injured, probably a broken leg. Elias then noticed it had a plasma grenade clutched in its hands. He tried to find the controls for the plasma cannons on the top of the tank. Elias was too close to use the mortar. He looked on in confusion over the various muttons and controls. He reoriented the tank and pressed one, hoping it would do something.

The tank then jerked forward as its boost jets fired. Elias then watched on in morbid curiosity as the front of the tank clipped the Elite and continued forward. Elias swore the Elite was bent forward in a rather painful looking position, its spine snapped and broken. It was enough at least to warrant a cheer and a humorously appropriate painful groan from the wounded soldiers watching on.

In the 360 degree view, Elias then realized the plasma grenade had been activated. He drove away, but the grenade detonated right under him. The displays flashed red and the controls stopped working. The tank was finished.

Elias got out of the tank, with those able to walk from the west face coming out to aid him. Elias wasn't wounded, but he was still shaken nonetheless. The adrenaline was still with him, his heart beating a thousand beats a second. What had just happened before, Elias could barely recall on. He was just very angry, and then he did a lot of things.

"You're alright, Elias?" a soldier asked, Elias then realizing it was Rhineland. His arm looked better now, only burnt by the plasma cannon.

"Yeah" Elias replied weakly.

Rhineland looked over at the tank and the path of destruction Elias had made.

"Was that _your_ first time driving that?"

"Hell no, but I hope it won't be my last."

Rhineland patted Elias's shoulder, while the other soldiers helped the two to cover. As they did, another convoy of Warthogs pulled up to the west face. Flynn got out of the lead Warthog and up to their position. He looked on in confusion as he spotted both Rhineland and Elias yet again.

"Dear God, are you two following me?" he asked.

"We get places" Elias replied.

"Get the wounded ready to move!" he shouted, both at the soldiers operating out of the Warthogs and the wounded soldiers on the ground.

"Word just came in from Stacker," Flynn continued. "All buildings of the arcology facing the north and east sides have been taken. The only building still left is that one, on the south-western corner."

"That one?" Rhineland asked, pointing towards the corner of the arcology.

"Yeah, that one," Flynn continued. "The communications terminal happens to be in there as well, which is where the Master Chief, Cortana, and Foley are at."

Upon hearing the names, Elias felt grateful. They had made this entire operation possible. But they were still caught in a place swarming with Covenant.

"We've got get inside and help them" Elias said.

"Agreed." Rhineland loaded a fresh clip into his sniper rifle and waved forward.

"Everybody not injured or can still hold a gun, follow me!"

Surprisingly, most of the soldiers, wounded or not, on the west face got up and followed Rhineland and Elias as they circled around to the east side. At the entrance to the path separating the south-east and north-east buildings, a ragged and beat up squad of soldiers held watch. Directly in front of them was the gravity lift, and littering it were the corpses of various Elites, Jackals, and Grunts, with even a few Hunters and Brutes. The squad had a pair of .30 calibre machine guns facing towards the lift, and a few of Rhineland's snipers were there as well.

"Come on, saddle up!" Rhineland ordered. "We've got to take the last building."

"Resistance is heaviest from that one I hear" a soldier reported. He was wounded in various places, his skin blacked from various impacts.

"We got this far already," Elias said, laughing. "Let's finish the job."

* * *

"Murphy!" 

The same soldier who had insisted that he heard a noise in the tunnel, and later found the Master Chief and Foley's team, had toppled over as plasma struck his lifeless body. He had taken multiple hits to the point he had only one good arm to shoot his Battle Rifle.

He was the thirteenth soldier to have fallen inside the communications room.

"God damn it!" Foley swore, jamming another magazine into his SMG. "Keep up the fire!"

There were only eleven left, which included Foley, the Master Chief, and Cortana, and of those twelve, only half were still not wounded. The Master Chief was running dangerously low on ammunition for his Battle Rifle. He had already expended all ammunition for his SMG, and was on the last few shotgun shells and 20mm grenades for his grenade launcher.

The Spartan finished firing a burst through an Elite's neck when he back bumped up against somebody else. He turned around for a brief second, noticing he had bumped into Cortana. She was not wounded yet, but she kept up the fight. She fired her SMG down one of the two rear doors, quickly reloading as he emptied her clip.

"Last mag!" Cortana shouted.

Cortana was holding out better than the Master Chief had anticipated. She was determined and had a strong will, and even in the midst of dying team mates and impossible odds, she was still holding out.

Plasma then lashed across the Master Chief's shields. He spun around and fired a pair of bursts, downing a pair of Grunts. A Jackal appeared in the doorway, using its shield as cover for more Grunts to move in. The Master Chief unloaded the spent shotgun shell in his Battle Rifle's grenade launcher, loaded in a 20mm grenade, and fired. The small explosive landed at the Jackal's feet, and blew apart the gaunt alien and the others in the tight hallway.

Bodies littered the communications room, both human and Covenant. The soldiers wearing the protection suits had survived and fought through the thickest of the fighting and had taken a lot of Covenant down with them. They had proudly done their duty to humanity.

"Screw you!"

Foley emptied his clip into an Elite. Just as the magazine clicked empty, more Covenant continue to pour through the rear entrances. With no time to reload, Foley pulled out his shotgun and fired, swearing and cursing in the process.

Foley was the most determined of them all, filled with so much spite and anger which he had directly almost entirely towards eliminating the Covenant. Without his protection suit, he had taken a ridiculous amount of fire, but with his skin charred and burnt, he only pushed harder.

His repeated shots from his shotgun only cut down more and more Covenant rushing into the room. The remaining soldiers helped out as well, but none could match Foley's rage.

"_Where are you? Where're you sons-of-bitches at?"_

Foley looked around at the entrances, deranged and ready for more. Looking around, the Master Chief noticed it as well. For the first time since the attack begun, the area was calm and quiet.

"Did they stop?" a soldier asked as he looked around.

It almost appeared as though the Covenant had stopped. The Master Chief took the moment of peace to reload his weapon and load a new shotgun shell into his launcher. Just then, several thin glowing ropes slithered down from the ceiling, an area Covenant troops had yet to be pouring out of.

"Above us!" the Master Chief warned, raising his Battle Rifle.

"Shit!" one of the soldiers cursed, pointing his SMG to the ceiling.

"Come on, you bastards!" Foley screamed.

The ropes then jerked around. There were then several distorted blurs that ran around the room – cloaked Elites. The Master Chief couldn't tell how many there were, but several floating energy swords then appeared. The Master Chief fired, his first burst catching the Elite by the throat, who fell to the ground writhing in pain. Its black armour suggested they were SpecOps Elites, some of the deadliest in the Covenant military might. More energy swords appeared and danced about. The Master Chief continued to fire and remained weary of their energy swords. He had taken down three, but even more continued to rappel into the room. One then appeared behind a soldier firing his SMG.

"Get down!"

Too late – the Elite activated its sword and sliced through the soldier, making him the fourteenth causality. Foley, who had witnessed the soldier being sliced in half, let loose with his shotgun, finishing off the Elite with a close range shot. A pair of Elites then surrounded him, their blades flicking dangerously close to the soldier. Foley lashed out with his shotgun, hitting the side of the cloaked Elite's head with the butt of his shotgun before letting loose a shot. The other cloaked Elite swung its blade, narrowly missing Foley. He got down and rolled out of the way, picking up a fallen plasma rifle in the process. Foley then let loose a long fully automatic spray with the Covenant energy weapon, dropping the Elite in a matter of seconds.

"Die, die, _die!_" Foley screamed, firing until the weapon overheated.

The Master Chief aimed for a pair of floating swords rushing towards him, cutting down a pair of Elites. Just out of the corner of his eye, the Master Chief spotted Cortana, her back to the communications terminal, with five swords dancing in front of her. She fired the leftovers of her clip into one, and had expended the last of her ammunition, but could not finish off the Elite

_Cortana!_

The Master Chief aimed and tried to fire, only to find that he was empty. He had no time to reload. He fired the shotgun shell, watching an Elite get blown apart in a cloud of purple gore. Dropping his Battle Rifle, the Master Chief unclipped his energy sword, activating it with a flick of a wrist. Although they were cloaked, the Elites seemed to look in shock over the sight of a Spartan carrying an energy sword.

The Master Chief charged, stabbing an Elite in the chest with the sword and whipping it out and slashing through another. The third Elite lunged forward, hoping to catch the Spartan off guard. The Master Chief spotted its distortion and sidestepped, whipping his sword out and watching as the Elite practically lunged into it. He then swung downwards with his sword and the Elite dropped dead to the ground.

The last Elite then charged straight at the Master Chief. He stepped back, the tip of the Elite's sword just scraping the Spartan's shields. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and the Elite dropped to the ground, blood flowing from its head. Cortana stood there, panting, with her M6C pistol in hand. She smiled at the Master Chief, before turning around and continuing to shoot.

By Foley's side, four more of the original team had fallen to the Elite's energy swords, leaving only the Master Chief, Foley, Cortana, and three wounded soldiers. Foley quickly reloaded his shotgun and was screaming for more. His calls were answered as a sizable group of Covenant ran through the entry.

The group consisted of scattered Elites of varying ranks as well as the usual underlings. All of them were suddenly cut down by rapid gunfire from outside in the hallway.

"Chief? Cortana?"

Rhineland then came running through the door, sniper rifle in hand, as did a weary looking Elias and a team of beat-up looking soldiers. The Master Chief sighed in relief that they had arrived. Foley, on the other hand, started to laugh.

"You guys missed the party!"

"I'll say" Elias commented, looking around at the sheer number of fallen Covenant. He then walked over to the fallen soldiers and checked them, looking on in sadness.

"Is the arcology secure?" Cortana asked Rhineland.

"Pretty much," Rhineland replied. "We've got a few remainders in this section, but we've got all the rest."

The entire arcology was practically under human control. The mission was a success, and a huge one for humanity. The Master Chief smiled inside his helmet. They had lost many lives, but they had done it right today.

"We're not done yet," Foley then said, receiving more ammo from the newly arriving soldiers. "We've still got to take the ship."

The infiltration was done; the securing of the arcology was pretty much done; now it was up to the final part, the capture of the Covenant capital ship.

"Those still able to fight, with me," the Master Chief said as he picked up some more ammunition for his weapons. "We've got a ship to capture."

The remaining soldiers from the infiltration kept going. They were wounded, but they wanted to keep going. Rhineland, Foley, Elias, and all the newcomers opted to go.

"Cortana, Stacker wants you back at base," Rhineland said, stopping Cortana from going. "We've got a team inbound that'll escort you back."

The Master Chief could see the visible disappointment in her eyes, but she knew her part of the attack was done. Her help could be easily given via radio from here on out.

"Good luck inside, all of you," she said. "Chief, please come back in one piece, alright?"

The Master Chief put a hand on her shoulder. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew at least she was going to be safe. During the fighting, the Master Chief suddenly felt closer to Cortana than before.

"I'm a Spartan, what can possibly go wrong?"

"Don't worry about him," Foley said, stepping in. "I'll watch his armoured ass."

"You better."

The team was then off, exiting the communications room and getting down to the gravity lift. Once there, they met with a larger force and prepared to move in for the final stretch. There were at least forty soldiers now, carrying a wide mix of weapons. Their load-outs ranged from short ranged SMG's to even the improvised rocket launchers and .30 calibre machine guns. They got onto the platform of the gravity lift, and in seconds, they were brought into the belly of the beast.

"Fan out! Secure the area!"

The landing bay was surprisingly empty, but the soldiers knew better. Within seconds, the doors opened and Elites came charging out. The soldiers carrying the machine guns dropped down and began firing, cutting down the first of the Elites. The Master Chief loaded a grenade into his launcher and fired, taking down another pair. The thick sounds of gunfire filled the landing bay and within seconds, had come to an eerie stop as all counterattacking force was wiped out.

"All clear!"

"No it ain't clear!" Foley shouted back. "I've got a feeling here!"

A large set of doors then opened, and two pairs of Hunters walked out. Worse, there were Brutes behind them, running out on all fours and ready to rip a human soldier to pieces. Rhineland had his sniper rifle in their direction within milliseconds and had squeezed off a round. One of the Hunters dropped dead to the ground. The others lowered their stances to protect their weak spots. The fuel rod cannons on their arms then charged up in an angry green glow.

"Get clear! Take cover!"

The soldiers opened fire yet again, and so did the Hunters, their fuel rod cannons firing out across the room. The cries of fallen soldiers could be heard all around. They were taking casualties, and would take more. The Brutes leapt out and engaged the human forces. One of the soldiers emptied his SMG out into a Brute, but the giant alien continued, grabbed the soldier by his arms and pulled, the soldier screaming in agony.

The Master Chief loaded a shotgun shell into his launcher and fired, catching a Brute in the face. He then pulled out his energy sword and sliced through the ape-like alien. A trio of Brutes charged straight at him, each of them fighting for a chance to fight the armoured human. Behind them, one of the Hunters charged up its fuel rod cannon and fired. The Master Chief immediately got out of the way as the shot blew the three Brutes into steamy bits of flesh.

On top of a discarded Covenant crate, a pair of soldiers manned a machine gun and rained fire at the Covenant force, while another in a far corner shouted for his team mates to get clear while he fired a rocket at one of the Hunters.

"Are we clear _now_?" a soldier asked, after the last Hunter fell to the ground, its armour clanking together in a noisy pile.

"Foley's down!"

The Master Chief ran over to Foley, who was lying and writhing on the ground. He moved, trying to get back to his feet, but was kept grounded due to his wounds.

"He's hurt bad," Elias said. "We'll get the medics."

"Screw the medics! I'm fine!" Foley yelled in defiance. "I can walk, I can walk, damn it! Did anybody get that Hunter? Son-of-a-bitch, cocksucker thought he could beat me with its shield!"

As hard as Foley tried to get back up, he was far too wounded to keep moving. At best, he could only flounder from his place on the ground.

"We'll keep going from here, Foley," the Master Chief said, lightly patting Foley's shoulder. "You can rest now - you've done well today."

More reinforcements appeared inside the ship, and a small number of them stayed with Foley, while everybody else moved on with the Master Chief and Rhineland on point.

"_Chief, are you inside the ship?"_

It was Cortana. She was determined to help, one way or the other. Whether it meant carrying another weapon or giving tactical data via the radio, she was there.

"We're inside. The construction is different from a battlecruiser, so we might need some directions."

"_Don't worry; I'm going to upload a map to you. It should be fairly accurate, and I've marked out the location of the bridge."_

A map then flashed inside the Master Chief's helmet. It had picked out a good path through the ship, past the shuttle bays and vehicle storage, and then to the bridge.

"Good. Is there any chance the Covenant will try to disable the ship?"

"_Probably, but they won't be able to self detonate the ship for sure. The virus has taken most of their primary systems, other than the gravity lift, offline, so even if they blow the coolant pumps or find a way to magically create the equivalent of a plasma torpedo out of thin air, they won't be able to manage."_

That was actually reassuring, if not in Cortana's usual good humour. The Master Chief led the way, following Cortana's directions. They had met mild resistance aboard the ship, mainly scattered teams of Elites, but nothing they would struggle against.

They had reached the shuttle bay when they were caught out in the open by several plasma cannons and a large number of Covenant reinforcements. The walkway on a capital ship, especially this one, was much longer and wider, two hundred metres long at minimum by twenty or thirty metres wide. Unused Banshees and dropships floated in their sections of the shuttle bay just beside the walkway, being of little use due to Cortana's virus disabling all control over the openings of the shuttle bay. Various crates littered the long stretch of walkway, which provided ample cover for all the soldiers on the attack.

"There's so many of them!" Elias cried out as he reloaded his Battle Rifle. "They're like god damned ants, or something!"

"Of course, this is all they've got left to hold the ship," Rhineland explained, getting back up and firing a set of shots. "We get past them, and we've pretty much taken the ship."

The Covenant line was ragged and hastily organized. Behind them was the door that would lead closer to the bridge. The Master Chief set his rifle down and turned one of the crates over horizontally and signalled for the soldiers carrying the machine guns. They ran forth and set their weapons up, letting loose a long string of fire towards the Covenant position. Down at the other end, Grunts carrying fuel rod cannons returned fire, one of their shots landing in between a squad of soldiers.

"Man down! Man down!"

"Want to return the favour?" Rhineland asked a soldier heaving a rocket launcher over his shoulder. He didn't have to reply – the soldier got up and fired a shot, watching as it decorated the walls with alien blood and steaming bits of flesh.

The Master Chief loaded another grenade in his launcher and fired, the grenade connecting with an Elite's midsection. He then tossed in a pair of fragmentation grenades, watching as the Covenant lines were torn up by the many explosions.

"Let's go, let's go!"

Several soldiers ran forward a short distance and stopped, falling to the ground and lying prone. As they did, the soldiers with the machine guns did the same, running up and dropping prone where they continued to fire.

"Coming through!"

Bit by bit, the soldiers advanced in small squads, leapfrogging up the walkway. They didn't stop where there was cover, instead they simply advanced and continued to shoot; an overly aggressive manoeuvre. The Master Chief and Elias charged up the walkway, past a pair of soldiers operating a machine gun, and fell prone, and then fired bursts into the Covenant lines. The Master Chief loaded another grenade into his grenade launcher and fired, landing it between several Jackals and a Grunt.

Loud _snaps_ echoed inside the shuttle bay – Rhineland and a couple of snipers stayed back, picking off targets of opportunity from afar.

"Coming through!"

More squads advanced up the walkway under the cover of fire from the others. They closer they came, the Covenant line seemed to shrink back bit by bit. One of the squads that just advanced fired a pair of rockets at the Covenant line.

"Coming through!"

The soldiers with the machine guns stopped at a fallen crate, where they quickly reloaded and kept up the fire. From their position, they were unstoppable. The Elites tried to encourage their underlings and comrades to keep fighting, perhaps even make a charge of their own, but the volume of fire kept them at bay, and all attempts were cut short but a metre from their lines.

"Come on, let's waste these bastards!" One of the soldiers waved forward and yelled, prompting more to charge forward.

By now, the human squads were advancing by tens of metres, dropping down and providing suppressive fire for the others to advance. They were now more than half the distance of the walkway across the shuttle bay. The Covenant defensive line was being pushed farther back, some even retreating past the door. The Master Chief pulled out a frag grenade and just as the door at the very end opened, he threw it, landing it just inside as the doors closed. Other soldiers tossed grenades, cutting the defensive line down even further.

The Grunts broke rank and fled. Some of the Jackals stayed behind, but even they couldn't remain in place for long. Eventually, only a handful of determined Elites were all that was left of the line. They held on stalwartly, but there was little for them for fight for at this point. There was no chance of a victory for them.

"Let's do this!"

In one final push, the remaining Covenant defensive line was broken. The Master Chief was the first through. The Spartan had slung his Battle Rifle and charged with the Covenant energy sword in hand. He leapt up from a crate into the air, and came down with his blade over top of an Elite's head. Another kept the fire on the shielded Spartan with its plasma rifle. The Master Chief charged straight for the alien warrior and impaled the Elite's chest with the sword.

The others were cut down by a rapid close quarter's fury of SMG and Battle Rifle rounds.

The rest was quite easy from there. Past the door, the surviving Grunts cowered in fear from the human attack force. Occasionally, a Jackal and a few Grunts fired back, but found themselves dead within fractions of a second. The attack force had then reached their objective – the bridge.

"Clear, the ship is ours."

"Get to work on those computers" the Master Chief ordered.

"Cortana, we're at the bridge" the Spartan reported.

"_Excellent work Chief. Now, let's get to work. First, I need you to open a connection with the base. I should be able to help direct the others on what to do."_

Walking up to the controls, the Master Chief pressed the appropriate buttons as Cortana and his translators suggested. It wasn't long before the connection was made.

"_Alright, I'm in. I need soldiers at these stations" _Cortana voice was projected over the intercom.

Several lights flashed at the stations, and soldiers ran forward to man them. Cortana then directed them on what buttons to press in order to deactivate the affects of the virus on the ship. Suddenly, the doors opened, and almost every weapon on the bridge was pointed in that direction. Foley, as well as with the other reinforcements, stood dumbstruck at the door.

"Do I look like a blue alien bastard to you idiots?"

There was a moment of silence, followed by laughter as the soldiers thought about his question.

"Are you alright, Foley? Shouldn't you be staying at the landing bay?" the Master Chief asked.

"Don't try to talk him out of it," one of the soldiers said simply, as Foley put his arms around the soldier's shoulders and over another. "He didn't want to miss this moment, even if it meant us _carrying _his ass over here."

The Master Chief understood. Foley was a hell of a soldier. He didn't deserve to miss the climax of the retaliation. As Foley was being helped to the floor, the Master Chief walked up to the soldiers lying down against the wall. Of them, Elias was there, as was Rhineland, talking to the younger soldiers. The soldiers, looking barely over the age of seventeen, were visibly shaking.

"Is this for real?" one of them asked. "Did we actually do it?"

"We did," Elias reassured. "We came, we saw, we kicked _ass_."

"Just breathe it in, son," Rhineland said. "And savour it – this is what victory smells like."

Looking out at the soldiers, the Master Chief could see warriors in them. They started as teenagers with barely a cause, and here they are – soldiers, having bested humanity's greatest enemy. Elias was just like them at one point – he was now a strong and fully capable soldier. Rhineland was somebody who was broken by the war – he was now a leader and a role model. Foley – was Foley. He started as a soldier and here, he was a soldier and an exceptional one as well.

Cortana…the Master Chief wondered about how much she had changed. She was no longer merely a voice in his head – she was something almost completely different, and completely superior, even to him.

"Guns are online, and torpedoes are armed!" a soldier yelled in triumph.

"_We're set, Chief,"_ Cortana said, her voice anxious and barely able to hold in her joy. _"We need to drop the shields and from there we can begin. I've highlighted the control on the monitor. Would you like to do the honours?"_

"Gladly."

The Master Chief walked up to the control panel and pressed a highlighted control.

"Fire at will."

With that, a cheer went out amongst the soldiers.

* * *

The Covenant assault carrier, a capital ship named the _Eternal Reverence_, lit up. The sides glowed angrily and then shot out in thin streaks. Plasma torpedoes, one of the most deadly weapons available on any Covenant war vessel. Once, they were the harbinger of doom for the UNSC fleet. 

Now, their original wielders would face the very same destruction.

The first of the torpedoes found its way to its target – a Covenant CCS-class battlcruiser, no different from any that comprised of a large number of the Covenant war machine. The crew on board struggled to get their ship back to operational status, courtesy of a virus that got onto their ship and disabled their primary systems. They then realized there was a plasma torpedo heading straight their way.

There was no way out. There was no way for them to dodge the shot, nor to intercept or return fire.

The torpedo burned through the vessel, neatly bisecting its hull. All creatures on board the ship had less than three seconds to make peace with their gods before they were vaporized by plasma.

The battlecruiser was first blood. Then came another ship, and then another, and another.

The Covenant armada, responsible for wiping out the last of humanity's defences and for glassing numerous colony worlds and murdering billions of human lives, was no more.

Down below at the arcology, the thousands of soldiers who took part in the retaliation watched on as the plasma fired from the ship. It began with one soldier raising his weapon and cheering, and then another, and another. A single cry went out amongst the survivors, unscathed and wounded alike, a single cry that ended the long night. It was a victorious cry that carried on for miles, as the night passed on into the day.

In the distance the sun was rising. It was the dawn of a new day.

* * *

The cheers continued to sound all throughout the bridge. The soldiers were keeping a kill count of the ships being downed by each of the shots of plasma. Each time it jumped, they cheered out. The only thing they were missing to make it a real celebration was beer. 

"Damn, I'd be pretty pissed off if I woke up now" a soldier said, chuckling as he watched on, still unable to believe that they actually did it.

It was no dream, however. It was reality – they had defeated the Covenant.

"Stacker, Cortana, and the rest of the command staff wishes to pass on their congratulations," Rhineland said, putting his radio down. "There're on their way to the arcology as we speak. This is it people – this is what we've fought and bled for."

"_It's over, Chief," _Cortana's beautiful voice drifted into his helmet. _"We've won."_

It was over. Humanity had won their battle.

"_No, this victory is merely the start of a new struggle."_

The Master Chief heard a new voice. He looked around the bridge, trying to find where it came from. It sounded feminine, but not like Cortana. The Spartan looking around the bridge caught the attention of all the soldiers.

"Chief, you're alright?" Foley asked.

"Did you guys hear somebody earlier?" he asked, receiving only shrugging shoulders and puzzled faces from the others.

"_They cannot hear me, Reclaimer. I am but one voice, with but one ear to speak to."_

The Master Chief continued to look around, until he realized it was not on the bridge, but inside his helmet.

"Cortana, are you hearing anything from my helmet speakers?"

"_What? I'm not picking hearing anything else. What's going on, Chief?"_

"_I would hate to remove one as deserving as yourself from your celebrations, but time is short. The Eve of Fate approaches, and your time as come, Reclaimer."_

There was then a bright flash of yellow light, catching the attention of all the soldiers on the bridge. The light enveloped the shape of the Master Chief, and in a quick flash, he was gone. The Master Chief, the last of the Spartans, and the hero of humanity and of the retaliation, had disappeared into thin air.

* * *

End Note: Just as a friendly comparison, the old chapter of 'Retaliation' was a mere 13 pages on Microsoft Word. Thirteen pages. On MS Word, the rewritten REDUX chapter came out to be **54** pages. 

Fifty-four pages. **5-4**. **54**. It is by far the longest written document I have yet to write - 54 pages. It took a hell of a long time, due to schoolwork and a whole multitude of problems not limited to a massive writer's block the size of the Northwest Territory before they split part of it to make Nunavut (by the way, late Happy Canada Day to all Canadian readers! Also, early Happy Independence Day for all American readers!), and high school Physics. At the time of finishing this monster, I have been out of school for a little more than a week, following final exams. I took a brief moment of time to play World of Warcraft, which started and ended quite quickly, and in between writing this, I also started a new fanfiction series over at the Love Hina section (don't ask...).

It came out to be so long because I put more depth into the retaliation. A lot more. It isn't a matter of taking a gravity lift - there's the initial infiltration, the transmitting of the virus, the attack, the individual parts of the attack, where I focused on Elias and Rhineland a bit more - those turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun to write, and then the final push. I also put a bit in about 'Yuteryi, but that's just a small segment.

So, after stopping with games and MMO's, I sat down, drank a pair of Starbucks frappuccinos (delicious, by the way), and just typed for an entire day. I had up until page 30 when I started, and in a few hours, driven by caffeine, _Saving Private Ryan_ (watched the opening scene four times already), _Black Hawk Down_ (watched it three times the past week), _Bravo Two Zero _(British movie staring Sean Bean, based on the true story of an SAS patrol in Iraq - this movie turned out to be the biggest inspiration in this chapter. If you've watched this movie, you can probably see the inspirations in my action segments), and by multiple mosquito bites gotten after standing outside in my backyard for a mere five minutes (nasty little buggers), I had typed twenty-four (**24**) pages.

Well, I need to rest my back and neck for a bit. I'll work on the next chapter to as much of my ability, and keep with my new series as well. Turns out, I found a way to temporarily reduce writer's block - I start with one fanfic, keep writing until I can't, then switch over, and I keep writing until I can't, and by then I can go back to writing Eve of Fate. Anybody familiar with Love Hina, give me a review if you can, or if you have time.

Otherwise, thank you for reading, and I'll see everybody next chapter.


End file.
